Mike Rowe Instagram – If you missed the first episode of Dirty Jobs, then you are not yet acquainted with Carlos the Soap Whisperer. Well, allow me to introduce you. Carlos was struggling once upon a time – struggling mightily to make ends meet. No car, no job, no direction, no prospects. In 2010, he was given a chance by a guy named Shawn, who had started a non-profit in Florida called @clean_the_world . Today, Carlos is still there, helping Shawn and a team of bloody do-gooders recycle millions of bars of barely used hotel soap and shipping them to third world countries with massive hygiene problems. He’s also supporting himself and his family. If you remember Returning the Favor, Carlos will remind you of the kind of people we used to honor on that program. People with a passion and a purpose larger than themselves. That show, for reasons I still don’t understand, is no longer in production. And so, from time to time, I try to use #DirtyJobs to introduce you to people I think you should know. Well, Carlos is one of those people. In twelve years, he has recycled over 73 million bars of soap, and helped save the lives of tens of thousands of people. People he will never meet. We could ponder the irony of a show called Dirty Jobs highlighting the business of recycling soap. Or the ingenuity and wisdom of Shawn Seipler, who first asked the question, “What happens to all the hotel soap that’s only used once?” But on Christmas Eve, I prefer to consider the story of one man with no job and no prospects, winding up with a true purpose in his life. If you saw Carlos in action, you saw a man who cleaned up his act in every way possible. A man who absolutely loves what he does. A man who can’t wait to get to work the next day to do it all again. A man whose work ethic and positive attitude have earned him the admiration of everyone around him. That’s Carlos, the Soap Whisperer. And everyone else, I suppose, whoever got a second chance, and ran with it. Merry Christmas . . @discovery