The Garbage Man
By: Linh Hong
You can always tell when somebody's laughing behind your back. Georgina hadn't really heard anything, maybe a whisper, but when she turned around, the girls in the back row of the class were looking at her, trying to hide smiles and giggles. She looked back at her teacher. Mr.Small was teaching. He wanted to find out what his students wanted to be when they grow up. He called Billy first.
"My mom works in a company," Billy said. "I guess I want to work in a company too."
Georgina liked it when Mr. Small asked them questions like this. He was about to call on Georgina when the girls in the back row started laughing.
Sharal yelled, "Georgina’s Daddy is a Garbageman! She must want to be a Garbagewoman too, right?”
Everybody in the class laughed out loud. Everybody except Georgina. She felt her face turn bright red. She looked around the whole classroom. Everyone was laughing. Georgina looked at Mr. Small. He was angry. He almost never raised his voice, but now he did.
"Silence! I want everybody to be quiet right now." The laughter stopped immediately. The sound of cars and people going by out on the street came through the windows. Mr Small said. "Being a Sanitation Engineer, is a difficult and enormously useful job. We should all be thankful to Mr. White. Where would we be without him? Up to our ears in garbage, huh? Would you like that?"
" Haha!" somebody laughed. A few kids started laughing again.
"It's not funny," Mr. Small went on. "Garbage is a serious matter. I think you all owe Georgina an apology.”
Everyone said "Sorry, Georgina" but she could tell they didn't really mean it. Her face was burning red and she felt like crying. Mr.Small walked to her desk and patted her shoulder.
Georgina’s father came to walk her home from school as usual. She didn't run up to him the way she always did. When they were up in their apartment, Georgina went to her little room and cried for a good long time. Her father must've heard her.
He came into her room. "What happened, Georgina? Why are you so sad?"
She was scared she was going to hurt her father's feelings. Her father sat on the bed, put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, sweetie. You can tell me. But you don't have to tell me your secrets.
She said: "It's not a secret. The other kids laughed at me because you're a Garbageman. They said your job was dirty and you smelled bad.”
Georgina looked at her father. He didn't seem angry, hurt or sad. His big white teeth gleamed under his walrus mustache . "Well then," he said. "I guess those kids just don't know how much fun it is to be a garbageman."
Georgina sniffed. "You smell good, like laundry soap."
"Your friends at school were right, though. Being a garbageman is a dirty job. Garbage is…filthy. Every day I see stuff so disgusting it'd make your head spin. And man, does it ever stink! But then me and the guys I work with come along, grab the slimy, stinking garbage and throw it in the truck. The truck's a big green monster who growls and gulps nasty garbage. Then everything's nice and clean. And when I get home, I take a long hot shower so I'm clean as the day I was born.
Georgina’s mother yelled dinner was ready.
"Georgina, go to bed extra-early tonight and tomorrow you'll come to work with me. I want you to see what your garbageman daddy does."
The next morning, Georgina pulled on jeans and a red shirt and was ready to go.
"We'll get breakfast on the way to work," her father said.
The garbage trucks depot wasn't far away. The place really didn't smell too good. Georgina wrinkled her nose.
Everybody was yelling and the truck engines were loud, but they seemed to be having a good time. Garbagemen came over to say hello to Georgina and her father.
Georgina's father handed her a thick pair of gloves.
"We're going to ride in back today. The thing to remember is…hold on tight.”
She said, "Okay". She held on so tight she almost didn't notice the smell of sour, rotten oranges, lemons, banana peels and coffee grounds coming from the back of the garbage truck. Georgina's Dad was strong. He picked up garbage bags that looked like they weighed 500 pounds and tossed them into the garbage truck like nothing. Picking up garbage and throwing it in the truck was fun, but also hard work. Her arms got tired. Her Daddy yelled, "Time for lunch!"
"Wash your hands very carefully, Georgina," her Daddy said.
She had a cheeseburger and a vanilla milkshake for lunch.
"Time to hit the dump!" Georgina's dad yelled.
The garbage dump was huge. You could smell it from a mile away. Seagulls flew all over the dump. They screamed, caw and fought, in the air and on the ground. They found stuff to eat at the garbage dump. When the truck was empty and Georgina was tired but happy.
"Now comes the best part of the job. While almost everyone else is still working, I get to go home, clean myself up then I get to come pick you up at school every day . That's why I like being a garbageman so much." Whenever someone asks Georgina what her dad’s job, she proudly says, "He's a Garbageman. Everybody makes garbage and my dad takes it all away so everything will be clean again."
