Jodie's Daddy Is a Garbageman (垃圾清理工)
Mr. Swales wanted to find out what his students' parents did. He had just called Jodie when some girls laughed. Shirley shouted, “Jodie's daddy is a garbageman!”
Everybody in the class laughed out loudly, except Jodie. She felt her face turn red.
“Silence!” Mr. Swales said, “Being a garbageman is a difficult and useful job. We should all be grateful to Jodie's father.”
Jodie's father came to walk her home from school as usual, but she didn't run up to him as she always did. When they got back home, Jodie went to her room and cried for a long time.
Her father came into her room, “What happened, Jodie? Why are you so sad?”
Jodie told her father what had happened and looked at him. He didn't seem angry or hurt. “Well,” he said, “they are right. Being a garbageman is a dirty job. Tomorrow's Saturday. Come to work with me, Jodie.”
The place really smelt too bad. Jodie wrinkled her nose. “Don't worry, kid. In five minutes, you won't smell a thing.” said her father.
Everybody there was working hard, and they seemed to have a good time. Jodie's father handed her a pair of gloves and told her to get the little plastic bags and throw them into the truck.
It was fun, but also hard work. Jodie's arms soon got tired. At last, no more garbage was left and Jodie felt very happy.
“Garbage is dirty, but when we clear it away, everything's nice and clean. You can make yourself happy only by making others happy. That's why I like being a garbageman so much.”
Jodie gave her dirty, smelly garbageman daddy a big kiss. She said, “When I grow up, I will be a garbage-girl!”
Now whenever someone asks Jodie what her daddy does, she says, “He's a garbageman! Everybody makes garbage, but my daddy takes it away!”
