Working as a custodian can be much more glamorous than many people think

(As if this photo isn't argument enough)
I am an eraser of petty histories.

Every morning, I get to see traces of hundreds of fingerprints on glass doors, their minute and matchless topography a testament to the peerlessness of each individual that crosses the threshold of my building. And I get to splash some ammonium solution on the glass, take my scratchy microfiber rag, and erase those traces.


I am the one who makes the coffee ring on the floor of the elevator vanish uninterpreted. If those breadcrumbs are showing the way home, I am the bird that gobbles them up. Crumpled study guides, torn messages, shoe-shaken dust...I take care that these unclaimed missives will not last long.

So much of life consists of leaving traces, pieces of your habits and personality sloughing off like so much dead skin when the act of brushing against the world works up enough friction. Cryptic detritus that whispers "So-and-so was here" like the blinking transparent icon in a video game.