Have you ever seen that TV show, \u201cDirty Jobs?\u201d The host, Mike Rowe, takes on different difficult jobs (Season 6 Episode 24 \u201cFish Squeezer\u201d & Episode 30 \u201cMedical Waste\u201d) sharing the gross details with the audience.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to blanche at the unvarnished reality of some dirty jobs \u2013 including a few that our colleagues do for our residents.<\/p>\n
Think about the Roads crew who will be out salting and plowing our 3,227 miles of roads this coming winter.\u00a0 They are on the road – at all hours of the day and night – in terrible weather – to make sure you and your neighbors can safely travel. And, they do this while most of us are snug and warm at home.\u00a0 They never get a \u201csnow day\u201d and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude!<\/p>\n
Or, what about the team from the Medical Examiner\u2019s office who are accountable to document a death scene and retrieve the body of someone who died in a terrible manner?\u00a0 This last week, they had to help retrieve a body from a well!\u00a0 I\u2019m very grateful that they are up to this challenging work every day \u2013 including holidays.<\/p>\n
And then there are the amazing professionals that work in our Sewer Division. \u00a0They are in a category all by themselves.<\/p>\n
It takes a special dedication \u2013 and a strong stomach \u2013 to do some of the tasks we need them to do.\u00a0 One of the \u201cless pleasant\u201d tasks is performing the annual maintenance at pump stations.\u00a0 This work includes removing the \u201cdebris\u201d that people flush down toilets or dump in their sinks.\u00a0 This debris can clog the pumps and ultimately back up sewage into the homes served by that station.\u00a0 Talk about ruining Thanksgiving!<\/p>\n
As part of my tours around the County, I experience different work sites in Planning and Public Works. \u00a0I was invited to spend time with the Sewer crew at Pump Station 22 \u2013 off Woodland and 84th. There\u2019s nothing like \u201cwalking a mile\u201d in someone else\u2019s hip boots, as they say, to really appreciate a person\u2019s world.<\/p>\n
Here are a few photos from my adventure.<\/p>\n But, pictures simply don\u2019t really do it justice.\u00a0 Check out the video below \u2013 just don\u2019t watch it before you sit down to eat your Thanksgiving feast.\u00a0 Seriously.\u00a0 I mean it.\u00a0 And, yes, that\u2019s me in the yellow gear and harness dangling above the m\u00e9lange of muck.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2018\/11\/The-pump-crew.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2018\/11\/All-done.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2018\/11\/In-the-muck.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/files\/2018\/11\/After-pumping.jpg\")