My father once told me that "if you can't save your employer a dollar, then you're not worth your paycheck." It's an old-fashioned idea, laughable these days, considering the amount of money that's squandered on unproductive programs and consequently, unproductive employees.
I refer specifically to the implementation of that mechanical wonder introduced into the Baltimore County landscaping workforce otherwise known as the "leaf blower." Yes, you might think pennies, not dollars, but let's take a closer look at this offensive machine. I have personally witnessed time and time again, faceless men (or possibly women) hats drawn low, safety goggles on, ear muffs secured, back-pack in place, laboriously chasing one leaf back and forth from one side of the road to the other.
I've spotted them secluded, behind a middle school parking lot where I formerly worked, aimlessly wandering back and forth, back and forth. I've watched them at my local library, blowing into the wind. I recently watched, incredulous as it sounds, a worker in his outer-space garb blowing leaves around in a local community college's forest. Should I have stopped the car and reminded the worker that that's where the leaves belonged?
So I humbly offer these suggestions to our county administration: Do you want to save taxpayers money? Do you want to reduce air pollution? Do you want to stop breaking the sound barrier? Then put a stop to this poor excuse of a job and give the man a tool he can be proud of while chucking that ridiculous disguise he's been lugging around — a good old-fashioned push broom.
Debby Hyson, Essex