The Jamaica Star :: Features :: A DAY AS A … Car washer

Marlon Vickerman, STAR Writer

Reporter Marlon Vickerman applies Wheel-shine to a tyre while crew members Marlon (right) and Ras (atop car) wipe down the vehicle. Shawn vacuums the interior.

_{THE STAR}_{today continues one of its latest features A DAY AS A ... Our reporters will spend time doing jobs such as garbage collecting, vending and farming. If you didn't before, now you will know what it's like to be in these jobs. Reporter Marlon Vickerman spent his day as a car washer in Portmore, St Catherine.}

By now, the stench from my stint on the Minott Services garbage truck in May had cleared my nostrils and I was ready for my next job: working at a car wash.

It was something less smelly and did not involve me going back to the Riverton dump, so I had no problem signing up for the latest assignment in this feature.

The location was the Total Car Care car wash in Naggo Head, Portmore. I arrived there at 10 a.m. and met with the operator, Cecil, who was about my height, 5' 9", and had 'Indian-looking' hair.

Meet and greet

After the short meet and greet in his office, we went outside to the workstation where I was introduced to my co-workers. The team at the car wash included eight persons: Ras, Abba, Shawn, Rick, Marlon, Toya (the only female) and two others who were at the far end, power-washing the vehicles. Ras was the one chosen by Cecil to monitor me for the day.

"Ras, da yute ya come from THE STAR. Him a do some work thing, pressure him," Cecil said, chuckling through the sentence. He ensured that Ras heard him clearly as he must have said 'pressure him' some five more times before walking off, chuckling on the way back to his well-air-conditioned office.

Wheel-shine

"Bigs, get the 'Wheel-shine' and sort out dem tyre deh, rub dem off wid some loose paper fuss," Ras said to me. This was the first time my 'monitor' was speaking to me and it caught me off-guard. I knew which tyres he was referring to, but I had no idea what was a 'Wheel-shine' or how that fit in the same sentence with sorting out the tyres. When I asked him where I would acquire this 'loose paper' he responded: "Just look bout de place, Bigs."

Abba must have read the confusion written all over my wrinkled eyebrows as I tried to make sense of Ras' words. He went and got a small container with a substance smelling like kerosene oil. "This a de Wheel-shine, Bigs. Yuh affi rub off the dirt offa the tyre wid de paper then dip the paintbrush inna de Wheel-shine and brush it like suh," he said, demonstrating what I needed to do.

I was basically being asked to 'paint' the tyres with the Wheel-shine, I thought to myself. Why didn't Ras just say so? I pulled up my trousers and stooped to the tyres' level. They were on a green Toyota Corolla taxi. I quickly 'sorted out' the first wheel. Rub, dip, apply, goodbye - that was the little song I made up in my head after reaching to the third wheel. I was making it look easy, and pretty shiny too.

I was on the fourth wheel, the victory lap, when the 'monitor' gave his assessment of my work. "Bigs, yuh nuh kno how fi paint breddrin?" I looked around and got my first good look at him. He was tall, extremely slim and sported a hairstyle that looked like a hybrid - unkempt plaited hair and sprouting dreadlocks. If memory serves me right, he was missing a tooth as well.

"Yuh a plasta the tyre, man. You a use too much Wheel-shine. Yuh a waste it, Bigs, a suh much paint yuh use when u a paint?" By now the others had stopped working and were looking at me being 'tutored'. To be truthful, I was embarrassed. I wanted to run out of the workstation faster than the tyres I was shining. Fortunately, Abba reinstructed me and I had it down pat. Rub, dip, skimpily apply, goodbye.

Vacuuming

I must have catered to some 16 tyres after I mastered the craft. My monitor was tending to his own business though, vacuuming and removing the tint from a car, so I am not sure he got to see how professional my 'painting' had got. I also got the chance to vacuum a car all by myself. Well, technically, I only vacuumed the driver's seat, the carpets and part of the backseat before again being relegated to my lowly tyre-shining duties.

Cecil popped out from his office about two hours after he first asked that I be pressured. "Yow! How mi nuh see unnu a mek de big man do nuttin," he asked, chuckling as usual. "Unnu fi mek him wuk u nuh, pressure him." After this I was randomly being sent to fetch things. I was asked to find loose paper, Wheel-shine pail, washcloths and even to go fetch a big pail of water and bring back to the workstation. But, as I always say, work is work, so I did them all. Quite frankly, I did not mind, I was enjoying the day despite Ras' insensitive remarks about my wheel-shining skills. I knew he did not mean to be rude, I guess.

In fact, when my photographer showed up at 3 p.m., it brought out the best in Ras. "A wha a gwaan? A who dis? Media? Bigs, a wha a gwaan, Bigs," he questioned, barely giving the photographer or me a clear chance to respond.

Picture

The photographer explained that he needed a picture of me on the job. "So, a jus Bigs alone yuh a tek? Wha happen to de senior man dem, Rasta?" he questioned before shouting to the others to huddle up for a picture. "Yeh man, our shop man, a our ting, Bigs, a good yute," Ras said grinning for the camera. He and the rest of the crew started striking work-related poses, trying to fit into the camera's frame.

I left shortly after the pictures were taken but not before Ras allowed me the esteemed privilege of wiping down a white Toyota motor car with him. His words of instruction this time around were less hard-hitting. I wiped to the best of my ability and he gave it the passing grade.

Looking back, the day was far from boring at the Total Car Care car wash. There was always something to laugh or smile about with my crew and I think I blended in pretty well. I did my part in making the world of shiny-looking tyres a better place.

Special thanks to Cecil, from Total Car Care car wash, and the entire crew.

Toya, the only female crewmember at Total Car Care, instructs the rookie on how to properly vacuum the interior of a vehicle. Abba, another crewmember, looks on from outside. - Ian Allen photos

'Yuh a waste it Bigs, a suh much paint yuh use when u a paint?'

FACT FILE:

Work hours: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Workdays: Every day

Salary: Crew members can make up to $10,000 per fortnight. A little extra may be given if a crew member details more cars than usual during that period. A record book is kept outlining the number of cars tended to and the crew members who tend to the cars.