Respect the Janitor

Michael Cline has been a janitor in the South Carolina Public School System for over twenty years. Starting on a whim, he has turned this profession into his life work. While some people look down on janitor's Michael keeps his head up, and his mop to the floor.

How did you first become a janitor Michael?

Well I really needed a job. I looked high and low and applied at a local elementary school. Out of all the applications I filled out they were the only one to call me back, they eventually hired me. Even McDonalds passed on me.

That isn't a bad thing, I hear McDonalds only hires people who are not very smart, and that can be trained as a cog in the working machine that is called Ronald's Army.

I wouldn't go that far. They probably didn't call because my phone was disconnected shortly after applying.

That could be the case. Are you content with being a janitor? Or are you looking for a career change?

I'm fine with it. It isn't that bad. An occasional vomiting and that's about the extent of it. Lunchtime can be a mess, but all in all I'm happy with my job. It really has become a part of me.

What happens when summer time rolls around?

It gets hot here.

No. I mean for work. What do you do since the school is closed for summer?

Oh. (laughs). Sorry about that. I work with my uncle on his pecan farm right down the road. Isn't the best, or the hardest work, but it gets the bills taken care of, and food on the table until school rolls around again.

What has been the grossest thing you have had to clean up?

We had a big pie-eating contest at the middle school one year. There was the big kid who was the favorite that noone really liked, I kind of took to the kid. After about halfway through seven or so pies it was trouble time. The kid started to puke. And that triggered other kids to do the same! It was a chain reaction of every kid throwing their guts up. That took a while to clean.

Did that really happen? That just sounded exactly like the movie Stand By Me.

Maybe that's where I got it from. I was drinking a lot around that time. Vomit, still is the worse part of the job.

What do people look down on janitors?

It's just the stigma. On TV and movies the janitor is shown as someone who isn't smart, a dirty person, who can only be good enough to clean toilets. That's not true at all, and we actually make pretty good money. It's just how society reacts, and personally I have had enough of society.