Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Sept. 15, 2005, edition 1 / Page 12
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T 4B LIFE/ Cfiarlittt $at Thursday September 15, 2005 Working yuck jobs takes a sense of humor to perform necessary task twvm'' ASSOCIATED PRESS ROCK HILL-TfeUing someone you woric for the city’s sewer department is hardly a good pickup line Just ask Chris Grant, mainte nance superintendent for the dty of Rock Hills sewer divi sion. “When I met my wife, I told her I was an engineer,” he jokes. “You’ve got to have a sense of humor. There’s noth ing glamorous about it.” According to the Prc^ressive Policy Institute, around 80 percent of jobs involve working at computers and with telephones. Not so for Grant and others like him who do the yucky— but necessary—jobs. These workers deal with spiders and dead animals. Tlieyre crawling in the dirt under homes and cleaning sewers eind septic tanks. 'Ihey’re out in the winter cold and the summer heat, with smells so bad it could curl your hair. “There are certain jobs that people brag about having. Police and firemen, there’s a lot of pride in that job,” said Greint, who’s been with the city for 19 years. “We get paid decent. It’s just not something you go out and announce.” Grant and a crew of about 11 perform routine mainte nance on sewer lines, running a blade down a manhole to cut through roots and grease. They work alongside cock roaches, rats and fix)gs —on a good day ‘Teople shouldn’t dump raw grease down sinks,” he said. “It mi^t not cause them a problem, but it tends to settle and get hard and cause m^jor troubles.” Broken lines and water leaks cause a blockage of black sludge with a rancid smell. They’ve found dispos able diapers, cov^alls, rags and even a bicycle seat in the lines, he said. “You name it,” he said. Then there’s the smell, which sometimes can knock a worker back finm the man hole. It’s a challenge in the smnmer, when it’s 100 degrees or more in the sun “Anybody who said they get used to it is lying,” Grant said. “It doesn’t get any worse.” Yes, it does. Take Randy Hubbard’s job with York County He’s a labor foreman for the solid waste department that picks dead cats, dogs and other small animals off the road. “It is a stinking job,” Hubbard said. He goes out as quick as he gets a call so the animal won’t be any more exposed than it has to be. He doesn’t wear a mask because then he’d be trapping the stink inside, he said. “I get them in a plastic bag as fast as possible, and then the smell is gone,” Hubbard said. His job is bad, Hubbard admits, but he’d rather collect dead animals than trash. His co-worker at York Coimt/s recyding cent^, Ralph Boyd, agrees. As assistant supervisor over. Your life. Your time. Your newspaper. Charlotte PHOTO/WADE NASH It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Professionals talk about how “yucky” their jobs are. recycling centers, Boyd sepa rates the bottles fi'om the cans and plastic, and he wish es residents would rinse con tainers more fi^uently “A dog food can that sits for a week in 100 degree weather —it smells good,” he joked. Then there is the “gunk and junk” in garbage trucks that need to be cleaned out, he said. What he describes won’t go well with the Cheerios you might be eating. “That’s dirty,” he said. But Rodney Allman can top that. He owns Envirosafe Tfermite and Pest Control and runs into snakes, bats and pos sums, standing water, cob webs and wood teaming with termites. “We have personal protec tive equipment and respira tors that help ease the pain,” he said. ‘1 have the yuckiest job there is.” The worst are the big flies that accompany dead animals he has to retrieve, he said. “They’re just everywhere,” Study finds breakfast helps teen girls stay slim DIE ASSOCIATED PRESS BALTIMORE —Girls who regularly ate breakfast, par ticularly one that includes cereal, were slimmer than those who skipped the morn ing meeil, according to a study that tracked nearly 2,400 girls for 10 years in Ohio and two other states. Giris who ate breakfast of any type had a lower average body mass index, a common obesity gauge, than those who said they didn’t. The index was even lower for girls who said they ate cereal for break- feist, according to findings of the study conducted by the Maryland Medical Research Institute. The study received funding fix>m the National Institutes of Health and cere al-maker Genereil Mills Inc. “Not eating breakfast is the wor^ thing you can do, that’s reedly the take-home message for teenage girls,” said study author Bruce Barton, the Mar>iand institute’s presi dent and CEO. The fiber in cereal and healthier foods that normally accompany cereal, such as milk and orange juice, may account for the low^- body mass index among cereal eaters, Barton said. Ihe results were leaned fix)m a larger NIH survey of 2,379 girls in California, Ohio and Marjdand tracked between ages 9 and 19. Results of the study appear in the September issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Nearly one in three adoles cent girls in the United States is overweight, according to the association The problem is particularly troubling because research shows becoming overweight as a child can lead to a lifetime strug^e with obesity As part of the survey, the girls were asked once a year what they had eaten during the previous three days. The data were actuated to com pensate for factors such as dif ferences in physical activity among the girls and normal increases in body fat during adolescence. A girl who reported eating breakfast on all three days had, on average, a body mass index 0.7 units lower than a girl who did not eat breakfast at all. If the breakfast includ ed cereal, the av^age was 1.65 units lower, the researchers found. You Arb Invited to Our Admissions Open House Kindergarten: Septemter 29, 2006, 7:00 p.m. Kindergarten - Grade 12: Oototer 6, 2006, ():30 a.m. For morz mformaiion phase contact the Admissions Office at 704.846.7207. CHARLOTTE LATIN SCHOOL UkLeoL 1,5 9502 Providence Road, Charlotte, NC 2Sm Tel: 704.846.1100 Web site: www.charlottelatin.org Cliarleston House on Tke plaza /\ i_.w Country Restaurant Where Everyday is a Holiday Lunch 11:30 a.ni. - 3:00 p.m. Dinner. 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. 3128 The Plaza Charlotte, NC 28205 704-333-4441 Lots of good food and beverages We’ll feed’ you til we fill’ you up, fuh true! Parking available on premises and shuttle services off premises. Breakthrough Seizures? Side Effects? Adding VNS Therapy may give you or your loved one... the power to renew a life. Please make plans to attend a free Epilepsy and VNS Therapy Patient Education Program Wednesday, September 21,2005 • 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm Marriott Charlotte Executive Pork 5700 Westpork Drive Charlotte, North Carolina For directions please coll (704) 527-9650 To register, call (800) 332-1375, ext. 7356 For more inlormah'on on VNS Therapy visit www.VNSTheropy.com The Three Little Words Every Woman Longs To Hear... Southern Women's Show September 22-25,2005 Charlotte Merchandise Mart Charlotte, NC Makeovers * Fashion Shoxt's • Cooking Schools • Health Screenings Home Accents • Jewelry * Gifts • Great Shopping and FUN! SHOW HOURS: Thursday, 10am-6pm Frkby. tOanvdpm Saturday, 10am-7pm Sunday. lOam-Spni ADMISSION; Adults (S7wW)ad)$8.00 Youth S-12 S4.00 Under 6 with Adult FRS Join Ridurd StmmonA the Court Jester o/Hea/th. Meet MeredHh Baxter and learn her sniple secrets for beaiAifii skia SOUTHERN WOMEN'S SHOW. Bank of America ^ CaioiinasMedkalCenter WBTV. Automotive Sponsors. Ponttac, Bukfo GMC rcir InformaoiMt sn>w-Vkuhei'n>)komenkShrRccr«n Or Calb .A Snuthrm Shovi I ne. Production Save $1 on admission with this ad. Not valid with any other show discount.
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