Billy Coffey
Billy Coffey

Buster

August 6, 2009  

I rarely indulge myself in fanciful flights of What Should Be But Isn’t. As in, I should be a writer with a cabin in the woods rather than a mailman with a house in the suburbs. And truth be told, I rarely sit around and gripe about my work. But it does happen from time to time. And when it does, I always cure it by taking a Friday off to watch Buster Graham work.

It doesn’t take much preparation to do this. I don’t have to go anywhere. All I have to do is grab a cup of coffee and take a seat on the front porch.

Buster comes to me, you see. Every Friday around 8:30 a.m. You can hear him before you see him, courtesy of the old diesel engine grinding up the slight grade toward my street. Start, stop, and start again, with each pause taking thirty seconds.

Let me clarify. Thirty seconds exactly. I’m not kidding here. I’ve timed Buster, and it’s never twenty-nine seconds, never thirty-one. Thirty. Period.

Buster picks up my garbage. Well, Buster and two other guys. But Buster does most of the work. The other two are what he calls his audience. They’re lucky guys in my opinion. I’d gladly pick up trash if it meant I got to see Buster do his thing every day.

The first time I witnessed Buster’s act was purely by accident. I’d taken the day off to get some things done in the yard, which just so happened to coincide with my trash getting picked up. It was an astonishing, almost magical moment that went like this:

Truck pulls up, Buster jumps off. Buster takes two steps and turns, scooping up my two barrels in a mystical, aikido-like move, dumping both in one motion. He then rights both cans so as to return them to their previous spot beside the mailbox. But he doesn’t just place them there. Not Buster. No, Buster spins them. From five feet away. One clockwise and the other counter, as if both trash barrels are entwined in some sort of exotic mating ritual.

He doesn’t pause to see if both end up where they’re supposed to be or if they’ll topple and roll into the ditch, either. He doesn’t have to. Buster knows what’s going to happen. He just turns his back, climbs onto the truck, and rides off into the sunrise before both barrels come to a stop. Exactly where they’re supposed to be.

There’s a word for what I saw Buster do that day: Sprezzatura. “A certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.” Coined by a man named Baldassare Castiglione in The Book of the Courtier in 1528. Brought to life by a man named Buster Graham in faded blue jeans and a T- shirt in 2009.

I took the next Friday off as well. Just to talk to him. Just to ask him how he does what he does. His answer surprised me.

“Jesus wants me to empty the trash,” he said, spitting a brown stream of Beechnut chewing tobacco onto the pavement. “He would have been a trashman, I think. If’n He’d have been around now, that is. Trashmen do a lot of good. The world’s a mess, and we gotta clean it up.”

I’d never thought about Jesus being a trashman. (Buster also said that Jesus would eat at the Waffle House. Because the food’s good there, and that’s where all the common folk eat. I can’t argue with that). The notion of Christ emptying my garbage is a little unsettling. It seems so beneath Him. Would God do that? Maybe. After all, He washed the disciples feet. I imagine that would be a little unsettling, too.

But there’s more to Buster than his graceful emptying of my trash. It’s his attitude. If there is anyone who could rightly feel their job is meaningless, it’s a trashman. Spending all day tossing spoiled food and dirty diapers around is bound to be depressing. But Buster isn’t depressed. To him, his job has a holy purpose. He’s cleaning up the mess.

And there is a lost of mess, isn’t there? Everywhere. No matter where we spend our days or where we collect our paycheck, there is some sort of mess. It might be a mess in someone’s heart, in someone’s life. It might be a mess to clean or straighten or even prevent.

It doesn’t matter what job we have, there’s always a mess. It’s the consequence of living in a fallen world. And as Christians it’s our job to clean the messes up, whether it’s saving a soul or lending an ear or doing a little extra for someone. Or even picking up the trash.In Buster’s eyes, he’s not just a trashman. He’s a holy warrior doing God’s work. I think we should all feel the same, regardless of our occupations.

Because the value of a person’s job doesn’t depend upon what it allows him to have, but what it allows him to become.

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Comments

  • Anne L.B.

    Powerful thoughts. Reminds me of a favorite quote:

    "If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: 'Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.' "
    ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

  • jasonS

    Great! It's all a matter of perspective. Everything is ministry in some way, practical or spiritual. That's a wise man, there.

  • Bridget Chumbley

    We could all learn a lesson from Buster. Thanks Billy for yet another awesome post!

  • FaithBarista Bonnie

    Oh, man. I thought I already had my favorite Coffey post tucked away in my shirt pocket safe and sound. Not anymore.

    "Jesus wants me to empty the trash," he said, spitting a brown stream of Beechnut chewing tobacco onto the pavement.."

    Too good to be true!? God's definitely hooking you up, Billy.

    "Because the value of a person's job doesn't depend upon what it allows him to have, but what it allows him to become."

    Could not have said it better myself.

    So true, but I wonder, how many people really believe this in their heart of hearts? I think this is the Gospel that we all need to be saved by day to day. Until we see Jesus again.

  • Angela

    I loved this! Thank you.

  • Denise

    Amen, beautifully said my friend.

  • Glynn

    Some of us would call Buster a missionary. I surely would.

  • sherri

    "One man's trash…."

    I love people like Buster!

  • Nitewrit

    Billy,

    Actually, if you think about it, Jesus was our trash man. He came to our neighborhood (the world), picked up all our dirty trash and disposed of it for us.

    Larry E.

  • Heather Sunseri

    I enjoyed your story about Buster this morning. What wonderful inspiration this Friday morning when I'm about to get back to work next week when my kiddos go back to school. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone put Jesus Christ in everything we did? I'll be thinking that next Wednesday. I'll also remember when I clean up the kitchen for the tenth time later today. Thanks for the inspiration.

  • lynnrush

    Right on, Billy. when you say, "Because the value of a person's job doesn't depend upon what it allows him to have, but what it allows him to become." It's so true.

    And you're right. There are messes in any job. God has us where He wants us so we can do His work.

    Thanks, Billy. Have a great Friday!

  • Doug Spurling

    Good morning Billy,
    Thanks again for another inspirational post. I too want a cabin in the woods, by a lake, making an eternal difference with written word. However, my job as an insurance adjuster seems to get in the way. Or so I think. Thank you for paying attention. You noticed Buster. Buster has now touched many lives. I'll remember you watching Buster the next time I'm doing something that I think is so temporary that it doesn't matter. I'll try to do it with Sprezzatura. And a prayer that it will help clean up the mess for someone watching.

  • Annie K

    Well said Billy and we could use more Busters in the world.

  • KM Wilsher

    Today I am going to be like Jesus. . .be a trashman. :) Help others with their trash.
    Thanks Billy,
    Great Friday thoughts!

    And clever. (Do you really meet all these people? I've never even seen my trashman :) Love Buster! I hope to see him at the Waffle House.

  • ~*Michelle*~

    Oh man, this Buster is a wise man.

    I love how you remind us that no matter what our "job" is in this world, there is no corporate ladder in God's workforce.

    Love your closing statement too. ;)

  • HisFireFly

    Jesus would eat at Waffle House and I'd love to be right ther ewhen He did, just another commoner, but set apart for Him!

    Thank you Lord for placing Buster Grahams in our lives to teach us what true love and humility looks like. Thank you that You help us empty our garbage to make room for more of You!

  • Live well – Laugh often – Love much!

    Excellent story, thoughts and writing.
    And I like words, so I'm happy to have learned a new one – sprezzatura.

  • Luke 15:25-32

    WOW.

  • Karin

    Your stories are an inspiration and blessing to my soul!

  • Laura

    Billy, I just love how you celebrate every act! Everything is sacred to you, and your eyes see so much that many of us over look. Your perspective blesses me, and encourages me to see life this way too.

    Thanks for that!

  • Melinda

    Man, I just love this! Jesus as a trashman…really, that seems just about right to me. Certainly it's beneath Him, but when He zipped on the ol' human suit and entered into this messy world, wasn't it just exactly for this reason? To clean up?

    And in the case of my heart, He's just as faithful to empty it of the trash as well…I just have to be faithful to set it out for His pick up.

    Awesome. Just awesome. You can tell Buster I said so.

    Melinda

  • Heart2Heart

    Billy,

    WOW! Another great post! This is an amazing story because I remember a time when trash men actually picked up our trash cans and dumped them.

    Now today, everything is so automated, it only takes one to do it and that is just to drive a truck and use the lever to pick up the barrels and wait for them to be dumped.

    I think Buster is wise to think that Jesus would become a trash man, because Jesus never found glory in what He did, it's who He helped and met along the way.

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

  • April

    Simply outstanding, Billy! You can find something beautiful out of anything!

  • Kenny

    I need to take my attitude to the curb and recycle it into one more like Buster's. Thanks again Billy.

  • katdish

    Sprezzatura? You're totally making that up…

    And if I wasn't so lazy, I'd prove it, but USA is having a Monk marathon.

    Having said that, there's honor in doing a hard day's work, no matter what that work is.

  • craisin:D

    Billy,

    I have a surprise for you if you stop by my blog today!

    Yours Truly,

    Craisin

  • Caroline

    Thank you for that simple beautiful story. It spoke to me especially now because I have been feeling very dispirited by my current job. Buster reminds me that I should have perspective about it.

  • Jess

    Wonderful post with a beautiful message! This is exactly what I needed to hear today! Thank you!

  • Beth in NC

    Wonderful as always Billy. Great reminder that we should all do everything as unto the Lord. It would change all of our perspectives.

    Bless you,
    b