What Happens When You Just Can’t “Stay Home”?
By: Erik Brown
Tags: Politics, Economics, Life Lessons, Health, Business

What Happens When You Just Can’t “Stay Home”?

We don’t have to be pieces on a chessboard.

Pixabay — Picture By Mohamed_hassan

“We’re just pieces on a chess board. We’re not supposed to think.” — Transit Authority employee who’d rather not be named

On my way out the door, I’d already heard the message several times. The local newscast had told me to stay home repeatedly. The internet news site I glanced at had said the same thing. A digital construction sign also gave that message instead of describing a traffic pattern, which makes sense there is no traffic now.

The well-dressed people on the local news also showed how they can telecommute and do many of their various jobs without being in their building.

A certain well-funded news channel the night before had also shown off how celebrities could give a concert in front of webcams in their home. Speaking of entertainment, many are telling us not to worry and just binge on Netflix while the world is stopped.

I don’t have the luxury of doing work from home. In fact, many don’t. That plumber who jets your drains so crap doesn’t flow out of your toilet is lacking that luxury. The mechanic who fixes your car also has the same issue. Let alone medical personnel, who are in the middle of their own world war right now.

There is also another group of people who you never notice who don’t have that luxury. They mainly work when you’re asleep. If you’ve ever worked at a large building, which magically always seemed to be clean — it wasn’t magic doing that. There is an army of cleaners that regularly appear and disappear conveniently before you show yourself at work. These simple people have been thrown into a front line position nowadays.

Hot Water Pressure Washer — Picture By Author

This is where I come in. These cleaners don’t just use mops and buckets. Some come equipped with gas engine operated or electric-powered machines with furnaces attached that produce their own hot water.

This water gets to near 200 degrees and hits with thousands of pounds of pressure.

These machines clean the train platforms and steps you walk on during your public transit ride. They wash the streets and sidewalks. Many lovely people use these areas as toilets, which my customers sanitize with hot water and conveniently make the smells go away.

A number of these people also use these units to clean the exhaust systems of the restaurants that cook your food. Every processing plant that produces the food you eat also gets cleaned by a machine of this type.

I fix these machines when they break, rent, and sell new ones. They’re a complex beast that requires knowledge of high-pressure pumps, burner systems, electricity, small engines, and how all these pieces interact with each other.

In order to fix these machines, you need to think logically about interactions between the pieces. The same goes in order to clean with these units effectively. Often you have to sit down and think about the best ways to run hoses, use pressure and water without destroying things, and place a burner system that might possibly damage the surrounding area with its exhaust.