It's a solid job. The benefits are great. The pay is decent. But for one 24-year-old garbage collector, the hardest part of the work has nothing to do with lifting trash bins. It's answering the question, "What do you do for a living?"
In a now-viral Reddit post, the young man opened up about an unexpected emotional weight he's been carrying since becoming a full-time sanitation worker two years ago. "Should I be embarrassed about being a 24-year-old garbageman?" he asked.
The post exploded with nearly 40,000 upvotes and thousands of comments — many from strangers who assured him the shame he feels isn't his to hold.
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The original poster explained that college was never in the cards. Instead, he went to truck driving school, earned his commercial driver's license, and found a job collecting waste. At $24 an hour with benefits and job security, he says it's a role he could see himself in long-term — but there's still a nagging sense of inadequacy. "Whenever someone asks me what I do for work, I feel embarrassed," he wrote.
Commenters quickly pushed back. "You shouldn't be ashamed of having an honest job," one person wrote. Another called sanitation workers "rock stars," pointing out how they help prevent the spread of disease and keep entire communities functioning.
Some even challenged the job title itself: "You're not a garbage man," one wrote. "You're a sanitation engineer. You help keep cities alive."
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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, garbage collectors earn a median annual salary of roughly $46,000, with experienced workers in cities making closer to $60,000 or more. That's not far off from the national average household income — and the job comes with union protections and pensions in many places.
Others pointed out how rare it is to have any job at 24 that offers benefits, PTO, and a clear path forward. "There are a lot of 24-year-old losers who aren't doing anything with themselves," one comment read. "You aren't one of them. Hold your head up."
And just like that, the original poster said his perspective began to shift. "After reading a lot of comments, I'm definitely going to look at my career differently," he wrote in an edit. "You guys are right — picking up trash is pretty important."
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Embarrassment doesn't always come from what we do. It often comes from how society treats certain jobs. But those same jobs — garbage collection, custodial work, delivery — often provide the backbone that keeps everything else going.
So no, there's no reason to be embarrassed. The real embarrassment would be letting someone else's opinion make you doubt your value.
And if you're still not convinced, ask anyone who's lived through a garbage strike just how "unimportant" sanitation workers really are.
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Image: Shutterstock
