Let’s get one thing straight: I hate cleaning. I always have and always will.
That said, there is some sort of satisfaction in taking something utterly filthy and making it sparkle. I have this same feeling when I build something. With a hammer, a circular saw, a tape measure and a pencil I am completely at home. Creating something out of raw materials is gratifying. Being able to see a finished product, your own creation, is nothing short of a rush.
When I was young I would complain to my mother about cleaning chores or making my bed. Her standard response was, “When you have your own house you can do whatever you want.”
I remembered this decree and lived by it for many years. I never made the bed. Why? Because it would only get messy again the next night. And the night after that. Vacuuming? Dirt added a little texture to the carpet and provided extra traction. For many years I was, for lack of a better term, pig-like. I had clean clothes, I showered, but my housekeeping skills were lacking.
Since arriving in China I have wanted to hire one of the numerous cleaning ladies to tidy my pad. My wife has always put a kybosh on the plan. “I will clean for you,” she replied. This rarely happened. When it did it was usually a Sunday afternoon while I was attempting to nap. The small set of rooms would resonant with clanging and banging as she mopped. Her small frame is full of compassion and love, but not grace.
With the schedules were are currently working, and the general state of the apartment, she relented and suggested we find some outside help. I was secretly pleased and whispered, “Excellent,” to myself much like Monty Burns of Simpsons fame.
While I rocked to Internet radio, two polyester-clad women swept, scrubbed, washed, tidied, dusted and mopped. The rate had been set at 10 Yuan per hour ($1.25 US). My wife had arranged for two cleaners for 90 minutes. The pair worked two hours, which should give you an approximate description of the state of our rooms.
I paid them 30 Yuan each instead of the 20 Yuan their time would have dictated. Sixty Yuan (less than 10 US Dollars) was fine with me. When you earn several thousand Yuan a month, 60 isn’t missed much. I handed over their money with two hands, as is Chinese custom. One said to the other in Chinese, “He gave us 30!” They were all smiles. I thanked them and they carried away my bags of trash, broken shoes and electronics, and plastic bottles.
While the apartment is now clean, I will state emphatically and publically, I will never make the bed. This is me “living the dream” regarding my mother’s “When you have your own house,” statement.
Can you send them to my house when they’re done?
You should see my bathroom. My girlfriend told me that most girld would break up with me over it.
Love this post Stevo. I, too, would have handed over the payment with two hands, regardless of custom. I would have bowed low, too.
I used to do “housekeeping”, and I loved the guys that gave “extra”.
I’m happy for you and your sweetheart; you have better things to do than clean, and if you can afford it, you benefit the cleaners as well. I once hired a sweet lady to help me out… she quit after one month! We had five of us working out of out home… I understood completely. FTL, jen P.S. I love your site, is it new?
This doesn’t really make sense. Our dishwasher has stopped working BUT our kitchen is now cleaner than it normally is.
What’s with that? I don’t like hand washing dishes. I don’t like loading and unloading the dishwasher. And, yet…there’s something about getting it all done in one go that seems to get the job completely done.
Good for you for breaking down and getting the cleaning ladies. Heck, if I only had to pay $30, I’d be getting them at least once every two weeks. As it is, I pay $100 two ladies to come in for 3 hours (and no, my house isn’t that big, it’s just gets that dirty)every couple, three months or so. I love how the house feels and smells afterwards. In fact, they’re coming this Saturday. Yay!
And while I have gotten a bit better in my old age in trying to keep the house relatively neat, I have very low standards.
I’d love to be able to afford to pay someone to clean my house. Especially now, with the kittens wreaking havoc. They got into the ash can next to the fireplace. Ashes, ashes, and little kitty paw prints everywhere.
Maybe I should just get rid of the cats.
I wish I could find cleaning ladies that cheap…
My mom made the mistake of telling me I could keep cats in the house when I had my own house. My husband, who worships her, is now abiding by that (albeit unwillingly) and my mother apologizes for it on a regular basis. I think she meant for me to make the beds–but I don’t either. I’d love to have cleaning ladies, but I’m so messed up I’d prolly kill myself cleaning house before they came.
You’re not the only pig. Nor the only one who doesn’t make the bed every morning. Why? To mess it again in x hours?
I actually love the look of a neatly made bed. It makes me feel in control of one small aspect of my life. I pay an elderly-ish lady to clean for 5 hours each week. I suspect she does what I could do myself in about 2 hours… but she’s been cleaning for me for years now, and I think I’m a little afraid of her.
I’ve had a housekeeper for nearly ten years … my schedule is so bizarre, and my personal energy so wildly variable, that housekeeping (though I’m good at it) was just more than I could deal with. My housekeeper loves me because I’m so easy to work for … borderline-OCD tidy, as you can imagine. It’s well worth the expense,which isn’t much, comparatively. And I like knowing that when she comes here,her day is a bit easier than it usually is … she works incredibly hard six days a week.