Yesterday, my wife and I got our first "Crescent Hill Newsletter" in the mail. It's the March-April 2010 edition, so there's plenty of talk about Easter egg hunts. Because I know you're dying to know, there's also information for a March book discussion about Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" at the Crescent Hill Library (2762 Frankfort Ave.). I read that book in high school. Spoiler alert: one of the main characters commits suicide. Hello, spring!
As I paged through the newsletter, a tiny rectangle on page 10 advertising a company called Super Scoopers caught my eye. "We pick up poo so you don't have to!" it said.
Intrigued, I called the listed number (643.7428) and got a hold of Kathy Schmitt. Turns out, the consulting firm that employed her for almost two decades downsized last April and let her go. Since then, she's done odd jobs and plenty of volunteer work but is still looking for steady income. "I've got a lot of irons in the fire right now," Schmitt says. "I stay really busy, I'm just not making a lot of money."
Not long ago the 50-year-old read a magazine article about a woman who worked as a "pooper scooper," and Schmitt decided to give it a shot. "A lot of people invest more money in their pets than they do in their kids," she says with a laugh. The ad I saw is her first, and she's still trying to build clients. Over the phone, she said she'll charge about $8 per week for one pet. Does the thought off cleaning up after other people's pets gross her out? Nah. Not as long as she has rubber gloves and disinfectant.
"If I've got some tools and a scooper and I don't have to bend over and pick it up myself, I'll be fine," Schmitt says. "It's not that hard, and a lot of people don't like doing it."
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