Most would never want my job. Parents tell their kids that if they do not do well in school, they will end up like me. Although I provide a needed service to the world, I am still looked upon in scorn. I am the invisible caretaker of the people. I chose this life twice, and I will never regret my decision.

            I was performing my weekly tasks, repetitive yet rewarding. Anthony is my name, although most do not know nor care. I always make sure to be aware of my surroundings while working. Due to my vigilance, I was able to spot the item that would change my life. The sun glinted off the metal – not rusted – and almost blinded me. I took a stance in which I was able to block the hot Trinidad sun with my body, finally getting a look at the object. This item in front of me was similar to a hollow hand, cut off right before the elbow. A few beads of sweat fell from my forehead as I picked the object up. The item was heavy; it must have been made out of real metal. I saw another one of these hollow arms just a few feet away. As I picked up the other arm, I heard my partner telling me to “Get a move on A!” I stashed the objects as I went back to work. I would need to do research on them later.

            As soon as I was finished with work I went to my step-great-aunt in-law’s – Petunia – house. She was the only family member who had not disowned me because of my job, yet I did know the only reason she had not was because I took her trash out for her every week. I normally did not chat with her, nor ask to use her internet, though with my find I needed to access the internet with her laptop. She finally agreed on the terms that I wash her dishes as well all this week. I did not mind this extra task, seeing as I had no other family to go home to. I could stay at her house an extra half an hour a day after work. I slowly typed on her laptop, “chicken-typer” she called me. I searched “Hollow metal arm” – pictures of sunglasses met me. Sunglasses were definitely not what I had in my backpack. “Metal gloves” was my next search. I found the name of the item I had found.

            Medieval gauntlets?? Who would have medieval gauntlets in their possession? Adding on, who would throw such relics away? To be fair, I was not going to keep the gauntlets either. I was going to sell them online, a little extra money never hurt anyone. To eBay I went, I had heard of the selling site before in town. I could see others’ posts right away. There was a tab in the corner that read “My eBay”. I assumed clicking the “My eBay” tab was the best next move. I did so, the laptop redirecting me to a page to sign into an account or make one. Realizing I had to have an email, I made one of those quickly first. Then I went back to eBay and entered my email and created a password and typed the password once more. Finally, I was able to put up the gauntlets for sale. I had the option to add a picture of my item, yet with my flip phone I did not believe that possible. So, I chose no picture, added a short description – “Metal medieval gauntlets, decent heft to them, a few scratches” – then added my location – “Trinidad”. I filled out a few other details and clicked “Post”. Buyers had three days to bid on the gauntlets. I told my step-great-aunt-in-law I would need to come back in three days, which ended with me doing yet another week of dishes. I grabbed my backpack and went on with my day.

            Three days later I had almost forgotten about the gauntlets completely; that was until I went to my step-great-aunt-in-law’s house to take out her trash and she asked me when I was coming back that day to use her laptop again. I told her I would be back right after work. She gave me a distasteful look and went back inside. Later, I came back as promised. I loaded up eBay on her laptop, signed into my account, and looked at the bid for the gauntlets. The final bid ended with a man from Hungary: 92,814,492.80 Forint plus shipping. Luckily, eBay translated that to Trinidadian dollars: TT$1,699,193.00. That is a lot of money…why someone would pay that much for hollow metal arms, I will never know. I accepted the offer and thanked my step-great-aunt-in-law. I headed to the postal office with the gauntlets and some money to pay for the shipping – promised to be paid back by the buyer once he received the gauntlets.

            Four days later I was wondering about the parcel, so back to my step-great-aunt-in-law’s house I went. Yet another week of dishes sat on my plate as I checked my eBay account. The buyer had messaged. He thanked me for the gauntlets, said they would make a great addition to his collection, and the payment should go through in a day or two. As the buyer predicted, the payment did go through, and I found out I had gained TT$1,699,193.00 in my bank account. The shipping was taken care of separately, and technically I did not gain any money from the shipping cost, I just did not lose any either. With this new money, I realized that I could quit my job!

            The realization that I could quit my job made me smile. While I did enjoy my work, I hoped that quitting might make people notice me more, that others in my community would not make fun of my work and call it a “high school dropout’s job”. So, I quit that day. I put in my two weeks’ notice and told the company I was finished afterwards. People did notice me more, not as much for my personality as the riches I had acquired. Peers started asking me if I wanted to go to dinner, or the movies, and those who once glared at me with distaste tried to befriend me. At first, I was blinded by the friendliness, I went along with whatever these new “friends” asked of me. Soon, these “friends” started asking for favors. “My girlfriend deserves a romantic Valentine’s Day, and my paycheck does not allow me to spend money to take her to the fanciest restaurant in town. May I borrow some money for her?” “I was invited to a movie and dinner with friends. I am short money, could I have some?” “There is this new handbag out that would make me look like the queen of the town, could you spare some to help me make more friends?” Soon, some instinct inside of me snapped. These were not my friends. These people were only talking to me because I had money, and they wanted my money.

            I thought that having enough money to quit my job would let others see me not for the job I had, although what I found out was that the people around me were shallow. The people around me did not care about me until I had money. I missed my job. Even though I was looked at in disgust, my coworkers and I always had fun together. Except for Justin. He was a jerk. I missed taking care of my community. I missed the reward of finishing my work, looking at the community and seeing the difference I made. A month had passed since I stopped working. I decided to walk to my old work and seek my old job back. Luckily, they are always hiring, and they accepted me back with open arms. Except Justin. He gave me a glare like always.

I told my “friends” that I had lost my money gambling (which was a lie I’ll admit). My “friends” seemed to disappear as quickly as they had arrived in my life. Even though I could live easily for about 15 years without a job with the money I made, I went back to my old routine. Doing my job, taking out my step-great-aunt-in-law’s trash every week, reading books to pass time, and going out with my work buddies every now and then. I may not have the prettiest job in the world, yet I find my work rewarding. While others might always look at me in disgust, I know that I am needed, and without me the world would go to ruin.

I am your garbage man.

Works Consulted

Anderson, Matthew. “What Currency Does Hungary Use?” Budapest Bound, 15 May 2017, budapest-bound.com/what-currency-does-hungary-use/.

“Climate and Average Weather Year Round in Trinidad and Tobago.” Weather Spark, Cedar Lake Ventures, Inc., weatherspark.com/y/150282/Average-Weather-in-Trinidad-and-Tobago-Trinidad-&-Tobago-Year-Round.

“Cost of Living in Hungary.” Numbeo, Numbeo, 2023, numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Hungary.

“Cost of Living in Trinidad.” Numbeo, Numbeo, 2023, numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Trinidad.

“Send a Parcel from Trinidad And Tobago to Hungary.” Parcel ABC, Parcel ABC, 2023, parcelabc.com/tag/send-a-parcel-from-trinidad-and-tobago-to-hungary/4/99/c222.

“The Trinidadian Dollar.” Information of Trinidad and Tobago Currency | Global Exchange - Currency Exchange Services, globalexchange.es/en/currencies-of-the-world/trinidad-tobago-dollar#:~:text=The%20Trinidadian%20dollar,is%20divided%20in%20100%20cents.