by Alex Williams
Daily Lobo
If cleanliness truly is next to godliness, he might be called Zeus.
Alfigopete Ramirez is one of 36 night custodians at UNM.
Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., while most people are sleeping, Ramirez is working to keep the campus clean.
Although Ramirez has only been at UNM seven months, he has been working the graveyard shift for 20 years.
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He said his attraction is best explained by asking, "Where else would you do a job where no one bothers you?"
Ramirez clocks in under a sign that states, "Service is our product." After roll call, he and his team are assigned to buildings for the night.
Ramirez's team always works the athletic buildings. He said they clean a building every two hours until they go home at 6 a.m.
"My night is my day," Ramirez said. "I'm the opposite of the average person."
On an average day, Ramirez gets home an hour after work, eats breakfast, and then sleeps until 4 p.m. If he goes out during the day, he said he's surprised by the activity.
"You go to Wal-Mart, and you're like, 'Wow, look at all these people,'" he said.
Other than the sun, Ramirez said he doesn't feel like he misses much of the day.
"Even on my days off, I'm still up all night," he said.
Because of their reversed schedule, graveyard employees often spend time outside of work together.
"The guys used to come over and play Nintendo or cards all night," Ramirez said.
He has been married to Patty for 27 years. The couple has two children - Daniel, 19, a truck driver, and Monica, 22, a TVI student.
"I'm working here so my son can go to school for free," Ramirez said.
While walking through the L.F. Tow building on the south side of University Stadium, Ramirez said, "Being a custodian means being honest. There's millions of dollars in merchandise here in this building."
The building houses the football training facilities and coaches' offices.
"I learned as a child: Never bite the hand that feeds you," he said. "(UNM) is my retirement."
Ramirez pointed out the locker room where there are water bottles, tape and football gear strewn everywhere.
"This is nothing," he said "On game days, the trash will be overflowing."
He said the third floor where the skybox is located will produce 50 full bags of trash on game day.
"On game day, you work twice as hard," he said. "It takes a lot of work to keep it that way."
It is a daily chore to vacuum the floors and mop the tile, he added.
Although Ramirez has only been at UNM seven months, he leads a team of custodians. "He has risen quickly," said Paul Benavidez, his supervisor.
Benavidez attributed Ramirez's ability to his experience supervising and said, "He has a good attitude."
Ramirez said he enjoys being "quieter and more at peace" while working alone on the graveyard shift.
"Don't get me wrong - I like people, but I like the silence, too," he said.
He said solitude is what draws others to the job also.
Before leaving work, Ramirez said he feels accomplished.
"Another day's worth of work," he said.
