Let's start with a broom
This morning as I walked to work, a Shanghai municipal worker was crouched down on her haunches, polishing a garbage bin. She had already carefully washed it down and was now rubbing shine into the metal containers with a suede cloth. It sparkled. The garbage can sparkled.
Near her, another municipal worker was meticulously piecing together his own broom, using the branches from some bushes nearby that he had just trimmed. The sidewalks of Shanxi Nan Lu were impeccable at 6:30am.
All traces of the previous day’s phlegm, snot, cigarette butts, baby poo and chicken bones were gone. Leaves were swept up with the recycled-trimming broom. It was shining.
And beans
3 Responses
Is Shanghai like that all the time? Or only because o’ the Expo?
I wonder how much do they get for doing that job… Oh! No photos?
It’s been like that for the past 15 months, so I’m not sure if they have *always* done this or if it’s just part of an Expo lead-up thing. It could be like the seatbelts in the taxis (seatbelts! In taxis! OMFG!) which I have heard will disappear once expo is done.
No photos because I’m at work and can’t upload from my phone here. I’ll post them tonight when I get home.
As for pay rates, negligible, I’d imagine. It’s easy to get everything tidy and manicured when you have an endless unskilled workforce.