Old Men Talking: On Hyphenated Relationships

Mike was the quiet one of these old men. On the days when he was “running the show” they called him “Mikey,” and although he would protest … he liked it. ​Mike had never graduated from high school, and his five children were not allowed to fail where he thought he had. He had been driving a county trash truck for most of his adult life. ​

Mike's work "handle" in these meetings was "trash man."

For four decades he had come home from work smelling of humanity’s waste. He treated it as great fun when his young children would hold their noses and run away from him. He’d chase them, grab them, and pull them close so they could get a real good “whiff” of his work.
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But as his kids grew older, they came to understand what the smell meant … their "father" was providing for them.

​From their "dad," though, they learned that it isn’t the job that matters so much as how well you do the job.

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