Healthy Indoors Magazine - USA Edition

44 | January/February 2022 By Susan Valenti By Paul M. Onder I started practicing the art of plumbing at the early age of 15 years old in 1978. In 2010, I quit my job as the district plumber for northern New Jersey Board of Education. The change came as a part of my new life as a Leukemia survivor. That fall, my first article for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center "Bridges" edition had been published. I wrote about reinventing my life after my cancer experience. After the article became a reality for all to read, I had to put these words into action. I could no longer work in public bathrooms because of the need to protect my health. When that career door closed, another opened. I had the opportunity to take a nine-month Business Operations Course, complete with a certificate. This course allowed me to study marketing. I gained passion to promote "life." After taking the course, I began work as an instructor. In 2013, and I was offered a position to teach plumbing and heating for a New York City private school of trades. I continued teaching at other schools, and now I am currently working for a public school in New Jersey. Because I need to achieve a CTE certification to teach, I must complete a two-year course at an approved college. I am enrolled in school with months to go. I ponder my life today and my cancer story. I find a need to talk about the rebranding of plumbing as we move into the future. The questions of "What is plumbing?" and "How can we use this idea of reinvention to move our society forward?" were under consideration as I wrote this article. To start, I want to revisit the past so to bring us to the present state of plumbing. I also want to bring up what needs to change as we move forward into our future of providing systems for proper human health and tools of cleanliness for all. The 1926 poster included with this article illustrates, "The Plumber Protects the Health of the Nation." This poster is still being used today. It was created by the Standard Sanitary Manu- facturing Company, which later became American Standard Com- pany. There are a few messages in the poster I want to touch on. The first message is clear, this trade of plumbing was designed to keep and maintain a higher standard of life for the protection of human health and safety. The poster depicts a man standing on a pedestal with coveralls, a hat, and a pipe wrench in his hands. At his feet sits a lead pot, ladle, and a pig of lead. The eyes of the community point upward with faces of humility toward the plumber. The line of people to support the art of plumbing stretches as far as the eye can see. Another message is that plumbing is global, which is portrayed with the image of the world that sits behind the plumber. Near the top of the poster its states, "The Plumber Protects the Health of the Nation." The words bring the messages together with the fact that plumbing plays a leading role in our human existence. This poster has been used to promote the art of plumbing for more than 93 years. Do you think this poster correctly portrays plumbing today? Can you pick out what has changed in plumbing that has made this poster obsolete? Has plumbing become less of a human need? Or, has our society changed along with Rebranding the Art of Plumbing Rebranding the Art of Plumbing

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