On August 4, 2017, the highest temperature in Nanjing reached 40℃. In order to understand the difficulties faced by sanitation workers, and to appeal for care for sanitation workers and the environment. The "Investigation Group on the Survival Status of Sanitation Workers" of Class 163 of the School of Art and Design of Wuxi Vocational and Technical College of Commerce launched the experience activity of "Being a sanitation worker for a day to realize the beauty of perseverance".
The rising sun has not yet risen, and the noisy city is still sleeping sweetly in a warm dreamland. There is such a group of people, their orange figures are already shuttled through the streets and alleys, opening the dawn of the city with hard work; they are A beautiful scenery in the city, they have contributed their efforts to the cleanliness of the city; they are not afraid of the wind and sun, waving the brooms in their hands, and polishing the face of the city with sweat; they have no rhetoric, only silent dedication, and always stick to it A simple and unpretentious belief - "I would rather be dirty than have Wan Jiajie"... They are sanitation workers known as "urban beauticians". Recently, we got close to these lovely sanitation workers and experienced their hard work.
Road sweeper
“I am definitely tired, but I am used to it”
At about 3 o’clock in the morning, the streets of the county town were silent, with only a few vehicles roaring. As we passed by, not many pedestrians could be seen under the dark night. As soon as we arrived at the intersection, we heard the sound of "swish! swish!" sweeping the floor. Under the dim light, two sanitation workers were already skillfully waving their brooms on the roadside, sweeping every inch of the road they passed. A broom made of tree branches and a simple dustpan are all their working tools.
Just one night, garbage was everywhere on both sides of the road and on the road again. Vegetable leaves, briquettes, paper scraps and other garbage could be seen everywhere. In addition to waving the broom quickly, the sanitation uncle also used his hands to pick up the accumulated large pieces of garbage from time to time and throw it into the trash can. He told us that they had to hurry up and complete the first round of cleaning before 7 o'clock in the morning. The streets were very quiet in the early morning, and the rhythmic sound made by the brooms in the hands of the sanitation workers when they rubbed against the road could be clearly heard. The two started sweeping from the main road, then both sides of the road, and then to the sidewalks. They also cleaned up the garbage in the green belt. They cleaned every place carefully, not sparing any small corner. While people were still having sweet dreams in bed, the tiredness and filthiness of the city were swept away bit by bit, and with the faint morning light, they regained a clean and tidy new appearance.
The sky is getting brighter, car horns are honking, vegetable vendors are shouting, and bargaining is happening... There are more and more vehicles and pedestrians, and various sounds are gradually heard in the streets and alleys. A new day has officially begun. We noticed that the garbage on the ground was mainly cigarette butts, vegetable leaves, melon and fruit shells and packaging bags. The garbage on the road could not be swept away no matter how hard it was. Often, as soon as one area is swept, garbage is dumped all over the ground there. Two sanitation uncles kept walking back and forth on the road, "waving" the brooms in their hands, and performing "magic" to keep the road clean. We made a rough estimate, and the average person swings the broom nearly a thousand times an hour.
Because I work in a fixed location all year round, I am familiar with the nearby businesses. Many neighbors and vendors were full of praise for the two of them: "They are really hard-working. You see, whenever my stall is not clean, it is all due to them."
"Almost. It’s like this every day, nothing special.” Regarding his work, the sanitation uncle said lightly, “It’s definitely tiring, but I’m used to it after working for decades.”
“Work more. It's okay to do some work, but sometimes someone throws something while cleaning, which makes me feel cold." Another uncle took over the conversation and said, "I'm most afraid of drivers throwing things directly in the middle of the road. He is almost 60 years old, so it is inevitable to be a little nervous when you see him cleaning in the middle of the road. "We observed that after eating the fruit, he threw the peel on the ground, opened the car window and threw the garbage out, and passers-by spitted and bought from time to time. The vegetable waiter throws the peeled vegetable leaves on the ground while picking vegetables... Uncivilized behavior abounds. For these, sanitation workers always bend down and clean silently. Their biggest hope is that everyone will be more aware of environmental protection, understand and cooperate with their work, throw garbage into the trash can, reduce their repetitive work, and work together to maintain the cleanliness of the city.
At 12 noon, the shift workers came. The two uncles finished their 8-hour work and walked home talking and laughing.
After 8 hours of follow-up experience, we were sleepy, tired, severely exhausted, and deeply realized the hardship of this job.