Like my full government name? My name is Richard David. My friends call me Rich. I’m from the Bronx, uptown. And I’ve been in this building for six months. I started around February.
I was working in another building, that was for around two years, and then my superintendent from that building told me to apply for an opening here because I was originally in that building to replace someone who was retiring, but he came back, so I was a floater and ended up here.
Hmm. I don’t know. I mean, everything happened fast. It happened within the next two weeks because I was applying for other jobs, and I had to choose between being a doorman and other jobs I got accepted to.
Some days it’s very, very boring. Some days it's active, you know, a lot of people moving in and out, and you know, good vibes.
Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me. If we’re talking schedule-wise, I prefer morning or nighttime. Afternoons, I don’t like too much. I like getting paid, so I just do it. Personally, I like working. So, if I have an afternoon shift, I can’t do two jobs in one day like I can with the morning or night shift. If I have a night shift here, I also have a catering job, so I’ll go do catering and come here. If it’s a morning shift here, I’ll go to the catering after, but since catering is always in the afternoon, I can’t do both at the same time.
Honestly speaking, the afternoon is the busiest of them all. In the morning, there are few faces you see since everybody's just sleeping. At night, people get home late, and that’s about it. Afternoons are more active, with people going out to eat and trying to catch cabs; it’s just more active in the afternoon.
Honestly, what I do during the nighttime is just I’ll be on my phone, or there’ll be work to do. We have to throw out the garbage, we have to take out the recycling, and we have to go through every floor. It seems simple, but it’s actually a lot. Then, I’ll go through every floor to sweep, and depending on what day it is, I may have to buff the floors. I’ll sweep, mop, and use those spinny machines. That day is the workout. Out of everything, that’s the hardest thing to do. It’s not hard, but you just need patience.
Yeah. (chuckle). I’ve only done it like three times, but every time I did it, my arms were sore, my body felt stiff—it was not comfortable.
Honestly, getting paid (chuckle). Actually, I like it when people have good energy. That's what I look forward to—having a good day.
Yeah, it’s random. Three days of the week, packages and everything will be around the same time, but then sometimes it'll be two hours later or an hour earlier. It’s random. You’ll never know. Uber Eats and FreshDirect all come at random times, too. You don't know what to expect in the afternoon, but mornings and nighttimes are more predictable.
You see these ramps? So, say when the lady comes back, and people are coming down, sometimes people just stand there to not get in the way. They let me finish. And yeah, that's just the main thing, like just helping on ramps. Some people like waiting, or they go around. Actually, I think this is the thing I hate the most. I've never seen it. Because this one is fine, but this old-ish one, this is a pain. And it’s way heavier. It’s all metal.
I’d say being positive and calm at all times, even if somebody comes at you disrespectfully, just keep smiling and act like nothing happened. You have to have peace of mind every second. Don’t let nobody mess up your day. Everybody has those days. Like, before this job, when I was in security, they gave me bad energy, and I gave them that energy back. I can’t do that anymore. I’d be gone the next day. So, I need to stay quiet, smile, and stay positive.
My rule of thumb is, if I’ve never seen the person before, I’ll call upstairs and ask, “Should I let such and such in?” If they come every week or I’ve seen their face regularly, I just let them go up. And sometimes, even if it is the same person, the people that live upstairs, they'll call down to let me know that their guest is coming.
No, only one time, and that was with the ramp. I’m telling you, I couldn’t figure out how to open it. But this job is nothing to be stressed out about. It’s easy, just be respectful, and that’s it. Just do what you gotta do.
On a normal day? I'd say 4 or 5 times. Actually, I’d say 3. But throughout the week, I’d say 70. Mostly in the afternoon with deliveries and packages.
Almost every day. Because if somebody goes on a break or for a lunch break, I talk to everybody. If an emergency happens, we call each other to let them know what’s happening in the building.
A lot (chuckle). This building, compared to that building, is a lot busier. That one is usually dog walkers or two people going out to work out. This building has more active people. There are two businessmen who will be in and out a lot. For example, this family over here (points to first-floor apartment), they’ll be in and out a lot. I can’t even put a number on it, honestly. Right now, it’s dropped, but I think it’s because it’s summertime, and a lot of people in this building have second houses upstate, so they leave.
Honestly, I feel like…I have one person I talk to a lot. I’d say there are three people I’m close to, but there’s not a lot of conversation. It’s like 3–4 sentences at the most. That one person over there particularly (points to a door on the floor), like 15 minutes, 20 minutes, you know. Everybody else is just short and brief.
Either or. Either or. Normally, it’s when they’re just about to leave.
