Window washer is hoping for a better future
Cleaning windows is his trade. Hard work is his calling card.
With a gear-stuffed bucket, brush and squeegee in hand, Mike Ruiz weaved around pedestrians, hustling to his next job on a hot, stifling day. “Sorry,” he murmured as he ran mere inches from wide-eyed pedestrians downtown on the stretch of Broadway near Houston Street.
Ruiz stopped at the plate glass windows of the EHCÜ Public Relations firm. He spun the bill of his Spurs baseball cap to the back and dunked a brush in soapy water that he sloshed in swirls on the glass. His T-shirt, wet with sweat and suds, clung to his lean frame as he squeegeed away dripping foam to reveal a crystal-clear surface. Then he repeated the process at the next-door shop of Gilbert Glaster, an artist and entrepreneur.
Two years ago, I met Ruiz on a warm September day after he’d cleaned the windows of the public relations firm, owned by Christian Reed-ogba and Uchennaya Ogba, whom I’d been talking to about story ideas. We were among those folks walking on the sidewalk when he rushed by us.
At the time, we were looking for people to feature in the San Antonio Stories series. Ogba was the one to suggest Ruiz. He was right. Mike had quite a story.
“Mike is the most hardestworking person I’ve met downtown,” Ogba said. “He was breaking down barriers getting people to trust him. I believe there are a lot of opportunities for him and wish him the best.”
A profile of the window washer ran in the Metro section Dec. 19, 2019. He shared that he’d washed windows at downtown businesses and suburban strip malls for 25 years, making just enough money to keep his family fed and clothed and a roof over their heads. Some days he cleared $200, and other days not as much.
Ruiz, 49, grew up on the South Side, the youngest of 12 children. He learned his skills from his father, Frank Ruiz, who was in the window washing business.
“No window is going to beat you,” he recalled his father saying.
In 2017, Ruiz became selfemployed and over the years had an estimated 70 clients including the Cadillac Bar, Paris Hatters and Earl Abel’s Restaurant. His work included power washing and painting high-rise buildings.
When the window cleaner’s father died, he became depressed, missing days of work that resulted in the loss of his house and car.
Ruiz received help from Keith Witt, owner of Winco, whose business is a second-chance company. When Ruiz was jailed for fighting, Witt helped the window cleaner’s family. He also hired Ruiz back several times along with others recovering from addictions or just released from prison.
I kept in touch with Ruiz, who had picked up a few more jobs after the story ran. Then, before Christmas, Ruiz sent me a Facebook message to say that he’s seen better days.
Ruiz said his 25-year-old son, Mike Ruiz Jr., died in a car accident two years ago — he’s still in mourning.
For the past two years, he’s worked at the Milmo Lofts building, at 329 S. Flores, beside Bill Miller BAR-B-Q Catering. Ruiz cleans windows and offices and does odd jobs.
Alexander Peña, owner of the Farmers Insurance office in the building, said Ruiz has always been motivated.
“Mike has been a really big help around here,” said Peña, 52. “His personality has always been catchy.”
Caroline Esparza Peña, legal assistant at the Law Office of Ross A. Rodriguez, said her brother, attorney Roland R. Esparza, hired Ruiz to give him a chance. When Esparza died in 2020, the office staff kept Ruiz on the payroll. They’ve continued her brother’s tradition of helping others, often hiring Ruiz to do handy work at their homes.
“He’s a hardworking man. We appreciate him every day,” said Esparza Peña, 52. “He’s trustworthy
and very careful about everyone’s property.”
She said Ruiz is an example that if you work hard, it will equal success. Ruiz believes that adage. Yet, he said there are times it hurts that he can’t give his wife and young son everything he’d like.
“We are grateful for what God provides for us,” Ruiz said. “I try my best to do what I can.”
Last week, photojournalist Josie Norris photographed the window cleaner outside the Milmo Lofts offices for this column.
With sunglasses propped on his brow and a black protective mask on his face, Ruiz cleaned 17 windows in the shade of the building’s long awning. His arms, tattooed with his family’s heritage, pushed and pulled a long staff, topped with a rubber blade, scraping away the soapy film until his reflection and the scenery around him appeared.
He stood on the suds-splattered sidewalk and inspected the windows for any smudges. There wasn’t one. He stowed his gear in his black bucket, picked it up and was on to the next job. Ruiz hopes his faith and hard work this year help him move past sad yesterdays and on to better tomorrows.