Picking Up by Robin Nagle

Author:Robin Nagle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

14. Getting It Up

Specialized fields of knowledge are marked by phrases, abbreviations, and slang that develop over time as a way of verbally concentrating complex detail. Civilians are often surprised to learn that Sanitation is no exception. First-time visitors to a garage are likely to hear dialogue that they’ll understand very little, if at all. To more fully understand the life and ways of the DSNY, it helps to be familiar with the language. Here’s a quick lesson.

SANITATION WORKER: Where’s the 57?

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT: Redlined.

SW: Already? C’mon, boss—you’re not really looking to bang me, are you? Yesterday I gave you a good load, dumped it, and then went back out for a piece. You know I always get it up, I always get good weights.

DS: How long you on?

SW: Sixteen this week.

DS: Then why am I explaining this to you? You guys are walking backwards right now. I know you always get it up, but I have orders. I don’t wanna give you a rocket, but I gotta cover my ass.

SW: Okay. No more full loads, no more dumping, no more going back out. Or how about I swing a piece.*

DS: Then I’d have to do a lot more than just light you up.

SW: So can I just sign the sheet?

DS: You got your 350?

SW: I was hoping you might put me on the FEL. And you know I’m broom qualified, right?

DS: You don’t want your truck money?

SW: You know I’d make the truck if I wanted. I do FEL, I’ll get schranked.

DS: Not if you volunteer for it. Besides, I thought you’d want to work on the arm.

SW: My ass!

The district super and the san worker are exercising their different forms of power. The super or the foreman can only redline, or close, a sign-in sheet at the official start of a shift, and usually workers are allowed a few minutes’ grace. By redlining it exactly on the hour, the officer played strictly by the rules, but now he has made a routine task difficult.

The san worker can’t necessarily get his signature on the sheet after it’s been redlined, but he can try to convince his boss to give him a break by reminding him of his exemplary record. The super doesn’t want to alienate one of his best workers, but he can’t set a double standard. If this one is allowed to sign in a few minutes late, why can’t everyone else? When it seems as if the super will hold the line, the superlative worker threatens to become what officers call a slug. This could directly hurt the super, since he counts on men like this to help pick up slack for other, less dedicated individuals.

The super asks the worker about his assignment card—the 350—as a way of defusing tension, thereby proving he’s tough enough to stay firm, but also that he’s not unreasonable; he hasn’t yet ruled out the possibility that he’ll let the man sign in. At the end of the conversation the super jokes that

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