For those who have never seen the show "Dirty Jobs," let me tell you about it. The show showcases jobs around the country that are odd and usually have some dirt or undesirable aspect to them. Mike Rowe travels around and does these jobs with the people that actually do them. He has drilled for oil, checked cows for pregnancy and even made mud. Well Mike.... You haven't seen the worst.
At this time I am on a cleaning crew. Doesn't sound to bad? Well the simple fact is that the place I clean just so happens to be a sardine factory. Yup... you read that right. I am cleaning a sardine factory. Let me tell you how my day goes.
I wake up when the phone rings telling me what time to be there. The times vary from day to day from between 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The entire crew drives for about an hour to the plant. Upon arrival, we put on our rain gear (pants, boots and a raincoat).
To start the shift, we go shovel and pick dead fish up off the floor. On average there is at least three hundred pounds of it. We take all the sand sharks and pl;ace them in a separate area. From there, the real fun begins... Using large hoses, we spray the machines down with a salt water bath to blow EVEN MORE fish out of the machines. Then using high pressure hoses with very hot water, we begin blowing the fish guts off the machine. Sound easy? Well this is where the rain suits come in. Imagine fish guts flying back at you in large amounts. The gear keeps it off the clothes and hair, but there is the occasional blast directly in the face. Trust me, there is not much in the world that beats a face full of fish guts to say "This fucking' sucks!" Now after the the cutting machines are clean, we once again pick fish off the floor again and begin cleaning the floor off, removing guts and heads where we find them.
Well that part is done, so it's upstairs for the sorting machines, cookers and packaging areas. Packaging and cooking are usually not to bad. Cleaning the steamers and racks is simple. Packaging is only a bitch when they use jalapeños or mustard. The sorters is where I am.,..
The job requires me to pick every piece of fish, gut and scale off the machine. The worst part is crawling under the machine. There is so little room I almost get stuck every day. If that wasn't bad enough, the space is so limited that my mouth and nose are almost always in contact with it. The smell is so bad that the entire time I am having major gag reactions. When the machines are done, it is time to clean that floor.
With that all done it is finally time to go home. Another hour heading home and it's time for the LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG hot shower. All in all, the day is usually between ten to thirteen hours long.
Now you ask.... If it's so bad, why do it? Maine sucks in the job market. All I want to do is leave, but to survive, you need to take these shitty jobs. Once I get the money to leave, trust me... Maine will just be a bad memory. But until then... Mike Rowe, EAT YOUR HEART OUT. LOL
