Why a P.E.I. woman gave up her desk job to sweep streets
Donna Dingwell loves the outdoor exercise and meeting people
Eight years ago, Donna Dingwell from Charlottetown decided to quit her receptionist job on the city's switchboard — for a wheelbarrow and three brooms.
Dingwell says her three sons were surprised to say the least.
"To go from working in the office on the switchboard, and coming outside as a street sweeper, my three sons were just like, 'What, you're going to be a city sweeper? Why?'" she said.
"When I explained the benefits and what the job entailed, I was okay with it and they were okay with it."
'It's a great job'
Sweeping streets was not a job she dreamed about when she was a little girl.
"Although I do remember getting my first little broom and dustpan from Santa Claus when I was four or five," she said.
Dingwell said the job has meant a bigger salary, but it's also meant getting outside.
She's responsible for sweeping a seven block section in the downtown.
"It's a great job. I meet so many people on a daily basis. I'm outdoors. I just appreciate the fact that on a beautiful day like today in October, I'm out here sweeping the streets. How wonderful is that?"
Compliments make her day
Dingwell's shift is from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., and she likes the early hours.
What really makes the job satisfying is getting compliments from people passing by — people like Petra Huber, a visitor from Bavaria, Germany.
"Oh, it's wonderful. I wish we had people like you, because people [in Bavaria] leave so much litter and it's crazy now. It's a very good job she's doing."
Dingwell was thrilled to hear that.
"Well, it makes your day. People do notice that you take some pride in your work and it's just good to know that people recognize that. "
Told it's the 'worst job in the world'
Not all comments have been positive — Dingwell said she's been told, "That's got to be the worst job in the world. That's not something I would do."
She just sweeps those remarks away.
"It's my choice."
Dingwell said all the walking and the lifting is a good workout, and keeps her in shape. She said the hardest part of the job is in spring, when she has to sweep up the sand that was spread on the streets during the winter. It makes pushing the wheelbarrow tough.
Dingwell is one of six full time street sweepers in Charlottetown.
With winter snowstorms just around the corner, her job doesn't get any easier.
She'll park her wheelbarrow and brooms and then hop in one of the the city's small sidewalk plows — but that's another story.
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