Meet the Dallas Sanitation Worker Who Has Spent More Than 50 Years — and Counting — Cleaning Up Our Mess

Nim Cash has done more than build Dallas. He has cleaned up its mess — our mess — for 50 years. This, at least, is what the Official Proclamation signed by Mayor Mike Rawlings says: "On April 30, 1969, Mr. Nim Cash began working for the City of Dallas Sanitation Services Department as a Truck Driver and now works as a fleet Supervisor for Transfer Station Operations."But that is not quite right, as the proclamation fails to note that Cash actually began to work for this city around 1950. He was 15 at the time, hanging off the side of an open-top trash truck, collecting garbage bound for the old West Dallas landfill."I lied about my age when I worked for the city, when I was a kid," the 83-year-old said Wednesday afternoon, following after a surprise trip to Dallas City Hall to collect a plaque from his council member, Rickey Callahan, and offer in exchange a few reluctant words of appreciation. "I got on early at the city."Got on early and stayed late, because that is what was expected of him. What he expected of himself. "I like getting things done for the community," he said. "If I went home and sat down, I wouldn't last."  Continue reading...