Laurels to people who do the world’s dirty work. We’re talking about the real nitty gritty here, the kind of labor where you get grimy, greasy, dusty and disheveled. The dirty work of a local business, Old Carolina Brick, was featured this week on Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs.” The company makes millions of bricks that sometimes end up in the spotless mansions of celebrities like Richard Gere, and it really is messy work. However, most of the people who get their hands ó and a lot more ó dirty will never be featured on TV, and they’re not in esoteric jobs with funny sounding names like porta-potty cleaner. They’re the plumbers who fix your drains and pipes, the construction workers who build homes and businesses, the ranchers and farmers who put food on your table, the garbage collectors who haul away your refuse, the oil-rig workers who extract fuel from the earth, the mechanics who keep America moving, the maintenance workers who keep offices neat and shiny and the press operators who print your newspaper. Let’s face it: If it weren’t for all those people willing to do the dirty work, things would really be a mess.
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Dart to news that the wait to get a driver’s license will soon grow even longer. The N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles estimates that it could nearly double the average transaction time to comply with new federal security regulations that require the DMV to verify the identity of driver’s license applicants and confirm they’re in this country legally. Besides longer lines at the DMV office, you’ll also have another wait before you receive your license. A new state law will mean a three-week delay before a motorist gets mailed a permanent driver’s license from a central issuing office. DMV Commissioner Bill Gore said his office plans to add 36 new workers statewide to help comply with the new laws, and he may ask to add dozens more workers later on. In addition to more workers, the DMV should put more seats in its waiting areas, preferably with soft cushions. Sounds like customers could be cooling it for a while.
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Laurels to the last of the “Doughboys,” the intrepid U.S. soldiers who signed up to fight the Germans in France during World War I. Harry Landis, who died Monday in Florida at age 108, was one of two known surviving U.S. veterans of the first world war. The other, Frank Buckles, lives in Charles Town, W. Va., and is 107. The last known German World War I veteran, Erich Kaestner, died New Year’s Day at age 107. The passing of so many World War II veterans has prompted many salutes to the men and women of that era, as it should. But let’s not forget that earlier clash of civilizations and those who answered their country’s call to service. They ground out a victory in the Great War and then came home to raise the Greatest Generation.