I know what it means to clean my own house – floors,
bathrooms, kitchen – but what is that like in a school environment?
Scott: It’s pretty much the
same. Trash. Vacuum. Sweep. Sinks.
Marvin: When someone is
contagious we have to wipe everything down.
Scott: It’s quite a bit.
Every day cleaning at home is just like at school.
But are there different protocols? Like with lice or
the flu?
Scott: If we have lice, I’ll
take a box of bags down to the classroom so the kids can bag up their coats and
things to stop the spread. There always bugs going around.
When you have to clean up vomit, are you just
convinced that you’re next?
Scott: I’ve done it so long
now that it doesn’t bother me.
Marvin: I get sick a lot. At
least the stomach bug is an up and down thing.
Scott: I’ve noticed since I
started working at Lucas – I worked at West High for 10 years before Lucas –
that I get sick more here because you have kids who just cough right into your
face, or cough into their hands and their hands go everywhere.
One thing I’ve noticed since coming to your office is
the kids coming in and out for the printer, and saying hello to you. How much
interaction do you have with the student population?
Marvin: Scott is here in the
morning so he knows more of the kids. Some kids walk up to you and just need to
see a friendly face. They want to give you a high five. We are going to get
some germs.
Scott: Your hands dry out so
much from washing your hands.
Marvin: I’m constantly using
lotion because my hands are so dry.
Scott: Especially being here
during the day, you see a lot of the kids. And I’m awful with names. I remember
faces. I can be in any given store and a kid will say, “Hey! It’s Mr. Scott!” I
have them call me Mr. Scott because it’s easier than Mr. Calcote. And some of
the parents, especially the newer younger kid’s parents, look at me warily and
say, “Who is Mr. Scott?” Though they ease up once they realize I’m a custodian
at the school, and will come over and say hi. My wife always says, “I can’t
take you anywhere!”
What do you guys do when you aren’t here?
Marvin: Relax.
Scott: Marvin sleeps! (laughter)
Marvin: Scott likes to go
fishing and stuff like that. I let him catch it while I go to the store and buy
it. (laughter) I’m not a hunting
type. I’m basically just not an outside person.
Scott: You like working on
cars.
Marvin: Yeah, I like working
on cars.
Scott: Body work.
Marvin: Right. Body work and
stuff like that. I have a couple of friends I help out from time to time.
Trying to keep my kid’s cars running. I would love to get a little money in a
pocket so I can restore a car and do it all myself.
Scott: Better be a lot of
money!
What do you hunt, Scott?
Scott: I fish, hunt. I hunt
everything I can. I do bow, black powder, about everything. I enjoy just being
outside. I only got two deer this year.
Marvin: He didn’t get enough
because there haven’t been any deer sticks in here yet this year. (laughter)
Scott: I just haven’t
brought it in yet!
Marvin: He hasn’t brought
them in yet because he figured if he did Marvin’s going to eat them all up.
He’s trying to save some.
Do you process the deer yourself?
Scott: I do from start to
finish. I make my own hamburger, deer sticks, jerky, everything all myself.
Are you guys looking forward to the Lucas renovation?
Will you get a new office or more space?
Scott: Our space will be the
same. It will be a lot more work. But it will be nice once it’s done. We’ll be
out cleaning the 10-plex and maybe a couple of portables besides that. That
will be Marvin’s other half.
Marvin: Oh boy… that will
add a couple of years to my life real quick, but it will be alright.
Is there anything that would make your guy’s job
easier?
Marvin: Let someone else
come in and do it while we just watch? (laughter)
When we are here together, things go really smoothly. We’re a great team.
Other posts in this series:
