THE OLDEST GARBAGEMAN IN NEW YORK CITY

New York City is recognizing its longest-serving garbage collector. Seventy-five-year-old Joe Caggiano is about to start his 52nd year on the job. Mr. Caggiano of Staten Island began working for the Department of Sanitation on Jan. 3, 1966, tossing trash into the back of a hopper truck. He now spends most days driving a truck, picking up containers of paper recyclables. Mr. Caggiano was eligible to retire and collect a full pension in 1986. But he saw that as the path to an early grave. “I feel you have to stay active to stay alive,” he said. “You start getting lazy, eating the wrong food, going to bed late – all of a sudden you’re on a different path and you get sick.”
* Yeah, and stay away from germs.
* They want to give him a trophy. “Pick the next one you see out of the back of the truck,” they told him.
* When he hits 55 years, the Department gives him a free shower at the YMCA.
* Time flies when you’re having fun.