Ramona Harper, Author at DC Metro Theater Arts dcmetrotheaterarts.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dcmetrotheaterarts.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NOVEMBER 8, 2015 12:00AM
NUMBING WORK
Scott Rhude picked up trash near a landfill in Willmar, Minn. He makes $2 an hour and dreams of a better job.
WILLMAR, MINN.
In a field on the outskirts of town, a man with Down syndrome is spending another day picking up garbage.
He wears faded pants, heavy gloves, a bright yellow vest and a name tag that says “Scott Rhude.”
His job is futile. Prairie winds blow debris from a landfill nearby faster than he and his co-workers can collect it. In the gray sky overhead, a turkey vulture circles in wide loops.
Rhude, 33, earns $2 an hour. He longs for more rewarding work maybe at Best Buy, he says, or a library. But that would require personalized training, a job counselor and other services that aren’t available.