Confessions
and concessions: Cleaning Spectrum increases respect
for maintenance crew
By Cameron Salony
March 3, 2008 | Many people left Thursday's basketball
game aware that All-American guard Jaycee Carroll scored
a game-high 30 points and kept his 50-game streak with
at least one made 3-pointer alive as the Aggies bullied
the Bulldogs from Louisiana Tech, 86-59. Of those people
many may have even realized that USU has now had at
least a 20-win season for the ninth consecutive season.
However, hardly anyone knows the number game associated
with the after-game cleanup.
I had the privilege of cleaning the Spectrum with
members of USU's student chapter of the Society for
Human Resources (SHRM) until 1:16 a.m. Friday. The chapter
cleaned the arena to raise funds.
Twenty-five brooms, 13 dustpans, four mops, 25 33-gallon
garbage bags and nearly three hours later we accomplished
our mission: make it look as if there had never been
a basketball game.
First, I picked up nacho trays, Aggie Ice Cream cartons,
popcorn boxes, cups, bottles, wrappers, and every other
foreign object on row 24 and row 1 in a clock-wise motion.
I quickly realized that students are a lot cleaner than
families because students are too poor to purchase the
overpriced concessions.
If there were no liquid spills underneath the seats,
the cleaning crew was instructed to put all of the seats
up. If there was a spill, the crew placed the three
seats surrounding the spill in the down position. Then
I did a "clean sweep" of row 23 before I was recruited
to mop duty.
My mopping task consisted of locating the chairs that
were placed down and mopping up the spills. Truly, the
task sounds a lot easier than it is. Trying to find
the prescribed chairs was like trying to find the hidden
object contained in a Magic Eye picture.
SHRM member Trevor Watkins said that he and his wife
did the math and that it would take one individual over
two weeks to clean the building by his or herself.
"We calculated in some extra time because it would
be so depressing to do this by yourself." Watkins said.
Watkins went 4-4 as he successfully cleaned two rows
and swept two others in 2 hours and 47 minutes of cleaning.
His impressive cleaner efficiency rating did not go
unnoticed by SHRM adviser Al Warnick.
Some individuals did not make it through the cleaning
session as they curled up on the floor next to garbage
cans for a little shuteye. I, however, did not know
if my sweaty and wrinkled hands would ever recover.
The cleaning gloves were green and very restricting.
I had a newfound respect for the USU facilities team
who had to work until 4:30 a.m. hours after Carroll
and the rest of the men's basketball team had showered
and retired for the evening.
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