The longest tenured custodian at the mall, Alfonso is faithful in his work and always first to greet with a chummy smile and a broom in hand wave, "Heyyyy hiya doin?!"
I asked him what is the hardest part of the job fearfully imagining the worst of the restrooms, but was caught off guard with his response."People think they can yell at me to hurry up cleaning...and call me names. That's not right. People call me names my whole life and you shouldn't treat humans like that." Upside down smiles as we look at each other.
Today he turns 50 and the smile he gives [everyday] is as big as ever.
