Steady climb up ladder of success

John Phillips hates to fly.

But he has no problem scaling skyscrapers.

That's a good thing when you make your living washing windows.

Phillips owns AAA Window Cleaning in Omaha. For seven years, he has wooed new clients and wielded a squeegee.

“I will rappel off a 14-story building, but I can't stand flying,” he said, laughing.

Phillips is one of thousands of workers in Nebraska and Iowa who will take a day off to celebrate labor.

Labor Day has evolved over the years from a day of fiery speeches on behalf of the “workingman” to a day of family and friends gathering over a hot grill and cold beer.

The holiday was first observed in 1882 in New York City, the brainchild of a labor union. A little more than 10 years later, in 1894, Congress made it a national holiday.

Phillips is one of the hard-working men and women Congress sought to honor.

Phillips grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Omaha, one of seven children. His got his first job at 12, washing dishes at a diner.

“My father always told me, ‘If you work for someone, you work your tail off. You take nothing you don't earn,'” said Phillips.

For nearly 25 years, Phillips worked for lumber companies, managing their inventories in Kansas and Ohio. Eight years ago he returned to Omaha with his family and, shortly after, started a new adventure cleaning windows.

“If I can sell a stick of wood, I can sell window cleaning,” he said.

He is now his own boss and loving it, despite the recession and physical demands of the job. Among them: He is constantly climbing up and down ladders, arms in perpetual motion.

At age 50, he says he feels better than when he was 40.

“Window cleaning is a constant aerobic workout.”

« Metro/Region

Share