Every workday, Brent straps (fastens) himself into an olive-green harness (set of straps, or strips of material, to hold someone or keep them from falling) and a canvas (strong cloth-like material) belt. After checking to be sure everything is ready, he steps out of a window high above New York’s streets and attaches his belt to a pair of hooks (a piece of metal to hang things on) on the facade (face) of the apartment or office building. Standing with his toes on the window sill (piece of wood or stone at the bottom of a window), he begins to wash windows.

Sergio, Jaime, and Cruz follow a similar routine (something you do every time). At dawn (when the sky is light before the sun rises), they lug (carry a heavy object with difficulty) buckets, harnesses, extra-long ropes, and other tools from their truck to a service (for employees) elevator which takes them to the top of the building. When they get there, they attach their ropes to the building and drop them over the side. After strapping on their harnesses, which include a seat to sit on, they attach themselves to the ropes. They pause (stop briefly), pray (ask God) for safety, climb over the edge of the building, and rappel (go down the front of the building by sliding down a rope and touching the building with their feet) to the windows they need to clean.

Brent, Sergio, Jaime, and Cruz all do what we might call extreme work. In Podcast 209, Jeff talked about extreme sports – sport activities that have a high level of danger and often require special equipment. If you’re not familiar with extreme sports, these great photos from National Geographic will quickly give you a feel for (understanding of) them. High-rise (tall buildings) window washing in New York certainly qualifies (can be thought of) as extreme work.

Brent, who’s been washing windows for 30 years, says he does it because he enjoys the work. He was introduced to window washing as a child, when his family was living in Holland, and began to do the work when he was a student at Columbia University.

His tools are very simple. A porcupine washer. A squeegee (rubber-edged tool for removing water from windows). Drop-cloths (large cloths to protect floors). Towels. Buckets. Water. And Joy, a liquid dish-washing soap recommended by his grandmother. He and his 10 assistants – mostly from Ecuador and Guatemala – clean windows in about 10,000 buildings a year.

Sergio, Jaime, and Cruz – young men from Mexico – wash windows because it pays well, allows them to take care of their families in New York, and send money back to their families in Mexico when it’s needed. One of them says, “I’m not rich, but I know that if my parents became ill, I could help them.”

The three young men say that they have to be fast, clean, and careful to be successful. Their biggest concern is the wind. “Yes, I’ve thought that I could die because of the wind,” one of them says. “Each morning we check the weather and decide if we’ll work on the building or not.” And each morning they pray, asking God that nothing will happen to them that day.

If you want to get a better feel for high-rise window washing, you can watch the short videos about Brent and Sergio, Jaime, and Cruz. I hope you’re not afraid of heights (high places)!

~ Warren Ediger – English tutor/coach and creator of Successful English, where you can find clear explanations and practical suggestions for better English.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Some call it a prank (a trick you play on someone to make them look silly). Others call it an urban legend (something many believe although it may not be true). I say it’s both. One thing is certain: it refuses to die (go away, disappear). What I’m talking about is cow tipping.

The tipping we’re probably most familiar with is that small amount of money we give to people who do something for us. For example, I tip waiters, taxi drivers, cleaning staff in hotels, and the lady who cuts my hair.

The verb tip can also mean to move something so that it leans to one side. And if we tip something far enough, there may be some unexpected or unwanted results. Let me give you some examples: If I tip my chair back, it rests on two legs rather than four. And if I tip it too far, the chair and I fall over backwards. If I tip my cup of tea too far, the tea will spill out onto the table. And since we’re talking about cows, many believe that The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 started when a cow kicked a lantern (a lamp that you carry), tipping it over so the burning oil spilled out and caused the hay (long dry grass used for feed) in a barn (farm building for animals) to burn. However, that may be another urban legend.

Cow tipping is the supposed (people say its true, but you don’t believe it) activity of sneaking up on (approaching quietly so they don’t notice) a standing, sleeping cow at night and pushing it over (off of its feet). Some even claim (say it’s true) that if you do this, the cow can’t get up again.

I was surprised when cow tipping became a hot (popular) topic on the Internet for a few days earlier this month. It seemed to be everywhere. The reason was an article – Cow Tipping: Fake (not real) or Really Fake? – by Jake Swearingen on the Modern Farmer website.

The writer’s conclusion is simple: cow tipping does not exist. You can’t sneak up on a standing cow, asleep or awake,  and tip it over. He gave several reasons.

First of all, cows don’t sleep standing up. And even if they did, they have no trouble getting up again after they have been lying on their stomachs. In addition, cows are wary (cautious; alert) animals, so it’s difficult to sneak up on them at any time.

Second, there’s no evidence that anyone has ever done it. According to Swearingen, you can’t even find an example of cow tipping on YouTube.

Finally, in 2005 two scientists from the University of British Columbia ran the numbers (did the mathematical ,calculations) to see if cow tipping is physically (using the laws of physics) possible. Their conclusion: it would take at least five people. Fewer might be able to do it if the cow was rigid (didn’t move), but the possibility of tipping a real cow is very low.

No one’s quite sure where the idea of cow-tipping got started. You’ll find it, or something similar to it, in a few American movies and television programs. I remember it from my high school days. It was a popular prank to play on kids, usually from the city, who weren’t familiar with cows.

So, if you’re a city kid (someone who grew up in a city) and you visit someone who lives on a farm, let me give you a tip (small piece of advice): if they say, “Let’s go cow tipping tonight!”, smile and say “No, thank you.”. That is, of course, unless you’re too tipsy (drunk) to care and don’t mind stepping in a few cow pies (manure; a flat, round piece of solid waste from a cow) while looking for that standing, sleeping cow that doesn’t exist.

~ Warren Ediger – ESL tutor/coach and creator of Successful English, where you’ll find clear explanations and practical suggestions for better English.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.