Voyeur 1

The clock struck 1 pm and it was time to make the rounds again. Every hour on the hour he had to get into his truck and circle St. Peter’s Square picking up the overflowing trash bags as he goes. His partner got into the passenger seat and  they began at the left side of the square. The Swiss Guard let them through but they were immediately stopped by a group of tourists who were too consumed with taking photos of St. Peter’s that they didn’t notice the large turck trying to get by. He really hated dealing with tourists, but there wasn’t a single day that goes by working here where the square is not packed by noon.They made it to the first trash can and there were two bags of trash piled up next to it. He stopped the truck and his partner quickly got out and threw the bags into the back. The air conditioning was broken and he was sweating profusely sitting there in the cab of the truck while his partner went out and threw the trash into the back. His neon orange nylon works pants were suffocating as he took off his baseball cap and fanned himself with it. They made their way slowly through the crowd stopping at each trash can until they got to the choke point of just before the front of the obelisk where the fences guiding where tourists could go opened. He had to stop the truck and honk at the crowds of people in order to clear a path. Onward they went past the lines of people waiting to enter the basilica until reaching the other side and were let inside by the guard. In another hour, he thought, I get to do this all again.

(St. Peter’s Square 5/23/19)