PRINTOn The Job: Cleaner
February 4, 2010 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Mark Anderson’s trademark blue dustpan and broom rest idly outside the door of Tiger Barber Shop while he catches up on the latest drama and jokes with downtown shop owners. After chatting, the Special Business District street sweeper continues on his task of cleaning sidewalks and removing graffiti from 60 downtown blocks. After four hours, The District is clean again.
NAME: Mark Anderson
AGE: 41
RESIDENT SINCE: 1995
AT JOB SINCE: 2002
Mark Anderson, a Special Business District employee, sweeps the streets downtown.
What time of year is the dirtiest?
MU football games, from beginning of the season to end of the season; it’s a mess. Period. Especially if they win. Even if I don’t watch the game, I can come down here Sunday morning and tell if they won or lost.
What area is generally the dirtiest?
Bars. Period. That’s just a given. Wherever there’s a bar, it’s going to be a bad block.
Describe your average workday.
I come down in the mornings, and I clean. Depending on the day of the week, I vary between working on the bars and highlighting the rest of the downtown area. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, do the bars. The rest of the days, the rest of downtown. You don’t run out of stuff to do. We have to get the bars first, then retailers, then everything else. The high-visibility areas we have to get to early. It’s all about time management and being self-motivated.
What personality traits does someone need for this job?
You have to be a people person, and you can’t really be openly opinionated. You meet all sorts of people out here, one day a Republican, next day a Democrat, next day a gay Republican, so you have to keep your beliefs close to your chest.
What’s a common misconception about your job?
That it’s easy and anybody can do it. I don’t know how many pairs of underwear I’ve had to pick up. You don’t know what you’re going to have to clean up after a Homecoming weekend.
What was the nastiest thing you’ve ever had to clean?
Human feces, busted-out windows, blood — there is some nasty stuff out there.
Have you had any dangerous experiences on the job?
Other than cars, no. Slipping and falling on ice in the winter. But you do go through a lot of shoes on this job.
What is your most difficult task?
Graffiti removal. Some of these graffiti people are good. Chemists have not found out how to get some of that stuff off.
What are the best parts of your job?
The freedom of my hours and the people. Downtown Columbia is an eclectic group of people who are fun to talk to and fun to learn from. Ultimately, this job is fun.
And your least favorite part?
Winter. We still have four hours of work, but you just wrap up, put a lot of clothes on.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Owning my own business. A cleaning or some type of sales business, definitely something that has to do with people.
What has made your job easier?
The downtown policing. They have worked on the homeless, either getting them help or offering them services.
What surprises you most?
You don’t know what you’re going to see the next day. I just don’t know who I’m going to meet, what business might come in. The excitement of seeing what’s around the corner.
Twitter
Facebook
