Untold Stories of the Blue Collared Worker
“There are jobs that work your mind, and jobs that work your body”, says Todd Kitzman, as he sips on a cup of coffee, still trying to warm himself up after a long cold day at work. Each day he is up at five o'clock in the morning to get ready for what the day has in store for him at work. He gets to work by 6:15, has his morning meeting, which entails what everyone will be doing that day, and what needs to be accomplished, and is then sent off to do his task of the day. His daily task can be anywhere from clipping tree branches, painting lines on roads, sweeping streets, and snowplowing. From his meeting, he must gather all the equipment he will need for the day and leave the shop to get to the location of his task. From there, he will work until his morning break at 9:00, then till lunch and checking in with his boss at 12:00, then till his day is over at 2:30. At that point, he still has to drive back to the shop, return the equipment, give a day end report to his boss, and then punch out, leaving him to get home at 3:30. Todd is employed by the city of Apple Valley, working with the street department. Although, in the winter, his day is never really done. Minnesota’s winters are unpredictable and snow can fall whenever it pleases. Due to this, Todd always has to be prepared incase it starts to snow. The city can call him at anytime requesting his time (he can say no, but that means missing out on extra cash, which in a blue collared workforce is always needed).
In fact, he said one of the most difficult aspects of his job is being called in the middle of the night to go into work to plow or salt roads. The roads are always horrendous at that time. Another difficult aspect is working on the roads when it’s snowy and it’s bad driving conditions which are usually very slick. One time, about three years ago, he almost hit by a car. He was working on salting some sidewalks when one car tried passing another. The driver lost control when trying to pass due to black ice, causing the vehicle to slide towards Todd. “I think I saw my life flash before my eyes, I was sure they were going to hit me.” He said he’s lucky he got out of the way on time. Hearing about this shocked me, I don’t remember him telling us about it. When I asked why he never told us, he said he didn't want to worry us because he was going to have to go back to work early the next morning and do the same thing.
The danger of the job continues from season to season. Such as in spring when he needs to sweep all the salt and sand off the streets as well as repainting crosswalks. One time, he was repainting a crosswalk and someone disregarded the cones. He said the driver was “driving a lifted truck, so his line of sight was already a little impaired”. The driver hit the cone in front of Todd, and he was so close that his foot almost was ran over. Todd said he was both shocked and mad, and ready to yell and let them know to pay more attention to his surroundings, but the driver neglected to stop, although he should've because he hit a traffic cone. Also with street sweeping, the vehicle is very slow. People always tailgate him and don't always make rash decisions because they are in such a hurry. Roughly 20 years ago, one of the first years he was able to use the street sweeper, someone was tailgating him and was not paying attention, failing to see he stopped. The next thing Todd remembers is feeling the jolt of the car hitting his vehicle. He actually thinks this accident is the reason he still has chronic back pain from time to time all these years later. Another dangerous time he had working with the city was in fall. Todd was cutting down low hanging branches that hung over the street. Todd was on a ladder cutting one of the branches off and holding on to another to balance himself. While doing so, some rookies near by were messing around on their break and bumped his ladder, causing Todd to have to pull on the branch he was using to balance himself, and with he wood being dead, he was launched off the ladder.
With all the physical labor involved with his work, Todd says he regrets not finishing college and going into a more white collar work environment. After graduating high school, Todd actually attended Normandale to get his generals done to become a conservation officer. But about a year in, his parents went through a divorce. He was forced to drop out of Normandale to start working full time to pay utilities and rent to help support his mom and two younger siblings. When he started looking for work, one of his family friends brought to his attention a job opportunity for the city of Apple Valley with plenty of chances for promotion. In the end, it ultimately turned out for the better. Through working for the city of Apple Valley, a coworker and mutual friend introduced Todd to my mother. This whole blue collared work he did payed off in the end. He has a secure job and a loving family.
Todd’s explanation of his job intrigued me through the hardships he faced working with the city of Apple Valley. Honestly, I had no idea all the work he did. Todd said a lot of people think he doesn't really do anything. To this, Todd says “come work a day with me and then tell me I don’t do anything”. I have more respect for city street workers, as well as my father, working hard day to day to support our family no matter the conditions or the dangers. From these untold stories my father has shared with me, I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for them more often when driving through the city.
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