Wang Minmin drives a sanitation truck. [Yangzi Evening News]

A female shop manager who once worked for a fashionable home furnishings company quit her job and become a street sanitation worker in Pukou District, in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. Recently, the news of her unusual decision has sparked a heated discussion nationwide.

"I just want to enrich my life and challenge myself, even under the tough working conditions," Wang Minmin said.

Wang is a mother of a young child. She earned a good salary of around 5,000 yuan (U.S.$ 700) per month plus bonus. Many people could not understand her behavior at that time, she said.

She saw an elderly sanitation worker cleaning up rubbish at the gate in front of a shopping mall on a rainy day a year ago. A customer and a child passed by and the parents said, "If you do not study hard, you won't do anything but be a sanitation worker when you grow up."

Hearing the customer's words, Wang became furious and a thought revolved in her mind: "Sanitation workers sweep the city's road by hand to earn money. Why do they get no respect from others?" Hence, she made a bold decision to join their ranks.

After hearing the news, her relatives and friends all tried to persuade her not to go through with the plan.

Wang once worried about how her son would be affected by her work. To her relief, her son gave her much encouragement.

She said she drives a sanitation truck to clean up garbage every day, along with some 10 co-workers.

Wang said her family members'attitudes towards sanitation workers have changed greatly in the past year, and her mother-in-law told her, "She should not have had a prejudice against them at the beginning and all workers should be respected."

(Source: Yangzi Evening News/Translated and edited by Women of China)

By Zhang KeEditor: Jane Wang