Cleaning A College In A Pandemic: Without Us This Campus Shuts Down
at 4:01 am NPR
There s a lot that is different this spring on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. It s quieter, since coronavirus safety protocols restrict large gatherings, and the dorm common areas are often empty. But there s one thing that hasn t changed: On most weekdays, you can find Lavonda Little at Reid Hall, a four-story residential building, working as a custodian, a job she s held for the last 16 years. It s my everyday performance, she says, pushing her large yellow cart filled with supplies down the first floor hallway. She starts her cleaning routine in a common room on the first floor, doing the dishes in the communal kitchen. Then she gets to wiping: the tables, the door handles, the blinds, the piano; everything that s touchable, she says.