It's a dirty job...

The clock just struck half seven. It was still pitch dark outside; even the morning was not very enthusiastic about waking up. A quick glance at the temperature gauge in the car dashboard and he read that it was marking 5 degrees Celsius, outside the car. He was telling himself that it couldn't be so cold and that the gauge must be playing funny tricks. He tightened the jacket, grabbed the bag and he dashed quickly to the security officer’s office.

The gauge in the car was working more then fine, it was freezing cold outside. He removed his right hand glove; put his now turned blue hand in the punch clock and as he pressed the key IN, the system read his hand. On his way out he was greeted by a large sign that reminded him how important security at work is. He placed the hard hat on and the reflective jacket.

The tug boat has been pushing the cargo ship in the port for the last half an hour and the crew on both boats tried their outmost to help tracking in the large cargo ship, in this severe weather conditions.

There were 13 people in all, in the small room which measured less then 3x3 metres, which they called the office. They were all wrapped with heavy clothing to face this cold day. He found the little room very cosy and the heavy breaths smelling of tobacco and the smell of fresh instant coffee, gave him a homely feeling, that he was enjoying even if he knew that he will soon have to dash in the cold to start his day of work. The SOS (the supervisor) told each one of them what was expected from them and everyone left to get ready to cater for the new ship which had berthed just now after a long struggle against the waves.

Heavy winds welcomed them when they opened the main door and he moved quickly with his team of 4 which were walking against the wind to try to make it to the other side. He could feel the cold stormy weather in his face and he tasted the salty sea spray on his lips. The air was smelling of rotten fish but the smell was acceptable. Small circles of seagulls were flying around the large ship which was moving strongly from one side to the other due to the large waves which ended hitting the side of the ship or the dock and that meant that if he was not careful enough, he would have got wet very easily, but a beep from the mobile phoned reminded him that this is not a beautiful dream but real life. He took the mobile phone out of his jacket’s pocket. A quick peek at the mobile screen and the name already brought a warm felling in his heart and the text message made him realize what a beautiful feeling it is to love and be loved. Then he realized that no job is a dirty job if one does it from the heart and enjoy every minute of it. Just five more hours to go...