by Ivan Copado

To get to know someone we ask the same list of questions. "What's your major?" "What year are you?" "Where do you work?" My favorite is the latter.

When people hear that my job revolves around trash, a mixture of curiosity and disgust ripples through their faces. I can hardly blame them. When I first heard of the job a mixture of curiosity and disgust came over my mind too, but here I am, employed by Burrtec Waste, a proud member of their dump staff.

After I have explained that I do indeed work at the dump the questions shift to what do I do, where is it, and most important of all how do I put up with the smell? I give everyone the same spiel. Six years I have spent driving down Market Street, right before Riverside County gives way to San Bernardino County. From a cracked window an odd marriage of smells enters my car. Rain or shine, they are always present. That weird sweet smell of decay, with an added chocolate tinge from the countless loads of unsold "Nestle Hot Cocoa Mix" that have found there way into the cracks of our indoor dump. When people hear sweet, their jaws drop. Yet it is true, as nasty as the trash may be in your trashcan, the product that arrives at the dump is far worse—visually. What you smell--provided everyone in the county did not decide to let eggs spoil—is sweet. It's like the first step you take into a candy factory, which may lead to the question, where are our candies really coming from, but that is a question for another day.

There is a powerful image created from the idea of a student making ends meet by working at a dump to go to school. This image is a reality for hundreds of my coworkers. However, when I was hired at the dump, I was not given a safety vest, hardhat, and broom. I do not have to sift through tons of trash in order to pull out the reusable material we throw away at home. The only time I strap on safety gear is when I leave my office; that’s right, I am an office worker. My official title is Deputy Weightmaster. Fancy as that may sound, in reality I am a cashier. I ask questions, take money, and produce receipts. There is an occasion or two where I must venture out into the dump area, look for a lost set of keys or thrown away (insert special occasion) gift, but these are rare. I do in fact work at a dump, but I may as well work at the Sweet Factory, weighing your bag of goodies, and asking for an amazing amount of money for what amounts to junk.