Let's get dirty

Husband-and-wife journalists Bob Miller and Callie Clark Miller use this space to offer their views on everyday issues.

SHE SAID: We've done a lot of dirty jobs, Bob and I. And we're not talking about journalism here. I grew up on a farm. I've strung barbed wire fence. Helped with birthing calves. Heck, my family even raised pigs for a while. I've been hunting since I was 12. Blood and guts do not bother me. Dirt and grime do not bother me.

At least, that's what I've been telling myself ever since Bob and I came up with a column spinoff to the Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs." You know the show? The host travels around the country doing, you guessed it, dirty jobs.

Wouldn't it be funny, I thought one day while watching poor Mike Rowe chase ostriches around, if Bob and I offered ourselves up to the community for one-day stints at Southeast Missouri's dirtiest jobs? Famous last words, most likely. But here we are, proceeding any way.

I figure we're already doing one of the world's dirtiest jobs right now -- changing Dawson's diapers. What's a little more dirt and grime, blood and guts on top of that?

So we're challenging you, beloved readers. If you do a dirty job and would like some free labor, e-mail us. We'll be writing about our experiences once a month in the lifestyles section, and we'll probably have some pretty embarrassing video on semissourian.com.

We're not afraid to try anything. Except bees. I have a true paranoia of anything that stings. So no bees. Please. No bees.

Look out, Mike Rowe. And look out, Southeast Missouri. We're about to get dirty.

HE SAID: I grew up the son of a preacher man. My mother is a teacher. I didn't grow up on a farm, but I learned the value of hard work from both of my parents. Both do way more than what's required and go to bed tired every night. I'd like to think I'm the same way.

The most difficult -- and dirtiest -- job I ever had was working on a farm as a teenager. It was only two or three days, but I helped a farmer put up hay bales. This required long days in the hot sun throwing rectangular bales onto a trailer. Lots of sweating and sneezing that day, some 15 years ago. Those days have stuck with me all of those years. Even as a teenage athlete who survived the rigors of two-a-day football practices, there was a physical exhaustion threshold met that day that I had not experienced before or since.

Callie thinks I grew up soft. But I'll tell you this: That summer job is one I know my cute and talented wife couldn't do. She's simply not strong enough.

Overall, hard work does not scare me. Dirty work? I remember writing a story on a cattle farmer named Mike Kasten a few years back. He did some things with some gloves and cows -- yikes.

I must say, too, that I worked like a dog in laying laminate floor, carpet and tile in an upstairs renovation project. And I work very, very hard at keeping my wife happy. OK, maybe that's not exactly true.

Anyway, I was hesitant at first about trying Callie's crazy concept, simply because I wondered if it would be worth one day a month away from the office to try it. But now that I'm a new dad, I don't get out much anymore. The grocery store is the limit to my social activity. And I need to get out more in the community anyway, and this is a good way to do it.

I'm quite convinced now that this will be a great experience for Callie and me -- and quite entertaining for you. I believe my cute and prissy wife has much underestimated how far (figuratively and literally) she has moved from the farm and how much our bodies will ache after several hours of real labor. We'll see. But I'm looking forward to meeting our hard-working and dirty readers out there. We have all the respect for what you do.

So bring it on. Let's get dirty. Send us an e-mail. The dirtier the better.

bmiller@semissourian.com

cmiller@semissourian.com

Bob and Callie Miller are husband-and-wife editors who love their work at the Southeast Missourian, but also enjoy relaxing at home with a book or the Discovery Channel while many chores get put off far too long. You can reach them at 335-6611, extension 121 or 128. Dirty jobs will be accepted on a case-by-case basis.