Street sweepers

Every morning I wake to a soft swish, swishing sound. The guardian is sweeping the courtyard, as well as the sidewalk and curb outside the church property. As I leave for my sunrise walk, everyone up and down the street is doing the same thing. Every morning all the leaves that have fallen in the past 24 hours are swept up. There are sweepers on the open public spaces as well, and street sweepers every morning at various places on surrounding streets.

Street sweeping is bottom-of-the-line labor, but it is a job that is helpful and appreciated. The street sweepers I see here in Phnom Penh are all women. There have been street sweepers most of the places where we have lived. Most French cities have them. In the last French town we lived in, the same 2 men swept the streets in our part of town and we would greet them as we went about our morning business.

I guess sweeping the streets is only important in a society where people walk around neighborhoods to shop or to go to the bank and post office and doctor’s office. I guess that wouldn’t make any sense in a “cars only” society. Too bad. I appreciate street sweepers.