Janitor in the Snow

'I never heard a newsman, when we had severe winter weather, mention a janitor's name. He'll talk about a guy working out on a line, he'll talk about a guy doing outside work, but do you realise when it snows in the city of Chicago, the janitor's the man who gotta get there and keep the sidewalks clean? The weatherman on TV, that big bum, he don't say nothin'.
It's a low blow. The talk about heart attackes shoveling show. In one of my buildings alone, I almost had a block of snow to shovel–plus the entrances, plus the back porches. There's a lot of janitors that keel over in this cold weather...'

On a lighter note:-

'I'm not mentioneing names, but this buddy of mine, I told him I got a couple of hot numbers on the third floor, students. And I says, "You can make out." (Laughs) I says, "I'll go up first. When you the blink at the window, come and knock 'cause I'll have 'em all lined up." You know you can control electricity from the fuse, right? So go down teh boilter room and fuse box and turn the fuse, and the light in the window blinks off and on up there. Christ! He came runnin' up those stairs. He's bangin' at the door, "I know you're in there! I know you're in there!" I said, "Hey, I pulled a joke." He almost killed me; he chased me all the way down the steps.'

Extract from:
Eric Hoellen - Janitor

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
Studs Terkel
Pantheon Books, New York
1972