Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: People important to us

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2002 | 8:24 a.m.

DO YOU READ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR? I read them and learn. Last Wednesday Sun reader Verna C. Shoen's was published. Allow me to repeat her opening comments:

"On Nov. 27 I listened to David Letterman joking about New York City's garbage removal, which is sporadic, I guess. The day before Thanksgiving my son in San Diego took his weekly garbage to a dump, in the rain and mud, so that his Thanksgiving guests would not have to look at it in the street when they arrived. We in Las Vegas have much to be thankful for, and one thing is our wonderful twice-a-week garbage pickup, rain or shine, holiday or not."

Verna, I agree with your observations. The garbage collection service in Las Vegas was excellent before it was bought by Republic and it has remained outstanding. Much credit must be given to the high quality of the workers.

Picking up garbage isn't a simple task that can be done by every person. The men servicing our area are physically fit and they know every technique needed to hoist heavy loads. Most of us would be out of breath just trying to keep up with the truck as it rolls from house to house. This isn't a job for a sissy or 98-pound weakling.

Some cities have learned lessons when thinking that other employees and/or National Guard units could replace striking garbage workers. Garbage in the streets and routes never completed caused great discomfort among their residents. It also helped bring the strike to a halt.

While on the subject of special people, the television ads by Nevada Power should be mentioned. The ads show power company employees in action and also have them telling viewers what they do and how they respond. Watching these skilled workers responding to damage caused by a sudden storm has always excited me. I recall several years ago, during a windstorm, watching power company workers, high in the air, cutting tree branches to protect a line. Seldom has our area been without power for more than several hours.

We are very fortunate to live in a community that is competently served by so many good people. The lady who delivers the mail in our neighborhood is also a special person. So are the men and women who serve our needs as firefighters and police officers. Don't let me forget the ambulance crews and the emergency room doctors and nurses.

Southern Nevadans are fortunate that snow removal isn't a problem. Where heavy snow falls, the workers most appreciated are those who remove it and clear the roads late at night and in early morning. Some mayors have lost their jobs when the snow removal wasn't up to par.

I must agree with Verna's comments about the Republic Services employees, but had to mention the other key people who do so much in our community. We are fortunate to have men and women who make life both comfortable and safe for us.

During the coming days, many of these salt of the earth Americans will leave their local jobs to serve in National Guard and Reserve military units. Already several hundred Nevadans have served for a year because of 9-11. Large numbers have also had their service extended for an additional year and now an even greater demand is being made by our nation.

We can expect the first new call-ups to again directly affect Metro and other police and emergency units. The New York Times reports, "In what is likely to be only the first wave of new call-ups, the Pentagon is expected in the next several days to activate as many as 10,000 reservists, mainly military police units, for security duty here and abroad, officials said. They would join the 50,755 reservists now mobilized for the defense of the United States after Sept. 11 and for the war in Afghanistan.

"But if President Bush orders an attack against Iraq, the Pentagon has plans to summon to active duty roughly as many reservists as it did during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, when about 265,000 members of the National Guard and Reserves were called up."

It's not uncommon to find the men and women who provide us with outstanding service to also be among those who are called to defend us when needed. We should remember that he or she isn't just a garbage collector, just a power company employee or just a police officer. They are all special people who are a vital part of our community and nation.