This is my first post as a Masters student. It's odd, as I put together all these brilliant ideas that I've held very close to me in the past year, I really struggle to articulate them in a scholarly way. I mean, there's just so much I could possibly touch on to make sense of waste in Toronto.
I just watched the most inspiring 20 minute lecture delivered by NYU Anthropologist Robin Nagle. If you've read anything on my blog so far, you'll understand my big love for this woman. She's studying an element of waste that I really wish I had the breadth to dive into - the role of the sanitation worker. This lecture touches on the role and presence of the sanitation worker. Nagle, a New York Anthropologist with her PhD, worked as "garbage man" for a brief period of time. This lecture touches on her experiences and learnings on this job.
Nagle departs with two sentiments. First, is a little something than a sanitation worker of seventeen years told her when she first started on the job. As she recited his words, she struggled to give the santitation worker a gender -
"If you're lucky you'll go your whole life and never have to call a cop. You're also, if you're lucky, will never have to call a fireman. You need a garbage man every single day."
The second thing she said is that the next time you see someone taking care of your trash, you very politely say Thanks.
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/5842234?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="230" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/5842234%22%3ERobin Nagle at Gel 2009</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/gelconference%22%3EGel Conference</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com%22%3evimeo%3c/a%3E.%3C/p>
