May 13, 2011
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I do not usually like to rant…
Unless, that is, I am sitting in my therapists office paying her to listen to me.
You catch my drift.
I am in the interesting position of doing many different jobs right now. Somewhat due to “the economy” and mostly because I like not having a real “day job” any more.
This preference requires me to actually work harder than a regular day job requires of me. It also gives me the freedom to love what I am doing, to some extent, and love the people I am doing it for to a greater extent.
I am doing mortgage stuff with a boss that I really enjoy working for, I also have helped out at an art gallery where I am fortunate enough to know some of the most inspiring, talented and kindest young people on the planet. Recently some friends from a band asked that I help manage them. Very cool!
I also do labor. I clean homes. I help people move. I will paint and do organizing. I have these skills, so I offer them out for a very fair price and to people who want/need my help.
As it goes, and has gone, the people I work for, in the labor area, I adore and love. I care about their homes and their fams. I want to make them feel supported and taken care of when they get home from their work a day world.
For the most part, these wonderful people treat me awesome. Very awesome. When they do not, I no longer choose to help them out. It isn’t worth the money.
Seriously. I would rather hold up a card board sign at the freeway then clean your toilet and have you treat me with disrespect for what little money I am paid.
Ok…on to the rant…
Communication with the person that cleans your toilets.
I have a history with the people I have been cleaning for. I have been helping out their households for almost five years. They have kept me around for some reason or another. I feel I am trust worthy and flexible and fair.
I am sure I have had less than sparkling days and everyone brings me up to speed on what they need or things they feel I have overlooked.
Recently, a couple of clients have been…how do I say this, they are nice people, they have not been communicating with me in a way that feels supportive to my helping them.
Does that make sense? When I have had to call them with a problem they immediately assume that I am wrong in my view of the situation, explain that they are right and do not offer a plan B. They re-explain to me what is not wrong with the situation in their eyes four or five times. I slow down and try to clarify what is wrong and what I cannot figure out…til I am blue in the face…
I prefer to figure things out on my own but I will not leave a surprise for you when you get home. If something important is standing in the way of me taking care of my work for you, I am going to call you. This is your home, after all. It isn’t like I am vacuuming your office. I am cleaning your bathroom. I am in your bedroom and your kid’s room. I am petting your dogs and cats.
I do not takr anything like that for granted.
I know, I sound like I am this amazing fabulous person…I am not. But, I am sincere in doing a great job or at least caring about what you want when I clean your home.
So, back to me having my hand in your toilet…
Don’t you think that someone who does this for a living deserves a modicum of respect? If I am willing to contact you with a problem, wouldn’t listening and suggesting a plan B be the correct direction to take? Maybe I did overlook the obvious, maybe I did just clean two other houses and am tired and a little direction would be in order. Maybe you were not clear about an expectation or the situation.
I am not a stupid person, but surely any of the above could and has occurred. None of those issues are a reason for myself or you, whose toilet I have my hand in on a regular basis, to speak in a disrespectful tone. This is not a situation that deems debate.
That YOU message thing. Did YOU do this? Did YOU see that? Just an offer of plan B, apologize for the inconvenience (I WILL APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY FOR BOTHERING YOU WHETHER I WAS WRONG OR NOT) and let me get back to the job at hand, seems to me, to be the right route to take.
Jeeze. You may get paid a thousand times more than I do but you have trusted me in your home around your pets and fam, I personally do not think you would let an idiot do that. Don’t talk to me like a five year old.
I know this all sounds a little over the top defensive. I agree. But, that is why I prefaced this with I do not usually blog rants.
I do this because I enjoy the freedom and being appreciated. Simple. I do not even charge the going rate of housekeepers in the area because, usually, the people I help tip me generously.
Ok…I in fact, have cooler things than this going on BUT, I feel better for getting that off my chest.
In summary, please treat your support peeps with respect. Do you want to be right or do you want a clean house?
Nice to see you, xanga-peeps!
ps: I also employ people to clean for me. Many times over the years and still now when I am overwhelmed and cannot tend to the usual chores. I treat them exactly as I expect to be treated and I tip very well. Just sayin’
Comments (12)
exactly. so many people just want to be right.
you are good peoples, Cassi. I would give you a specially nice tip. heh.
(HUG),
me
I think that people who are willing to put their hand in my toilets deserve more than a modicum of respect! I want a clean house. “Being right” is something I save for my husband. Sorry about the treatment Cassi! Just sayin’
@mamahen00 - It rarely happens, Kate. Just too often of recent. You crack me up. Thank you for your support. I love you!
It stinks when people have the attitude that they are so much better than the “minions” under them. Personally I think you’re a great person and I would love to have you stick your hand in my toilet.
some people just live live in a different reality…where they count and others don’t. pretty hard for a person of heart to wrap their head around that not mention try to understand it.i choose to NEVER understand it……..i NEVER EVER want to have the capacity to figure them out!
some people have their nose so high in the air they drown in their own ego … they don’t “get” it … sorry they treated you this way … i remember being treated this way just because i am a woman … harumph!
This is going to sound very Pollyanna but when people treat other people badly it’s because they’re not feeling well themselves. They need to be treated kindly and with compassion. Forgive me for this comment.
@titus_bigglesworth - I believe exactly what you are saying here. Exactly. Nevertheless, I was grumpy yesterday and used this as my forum to vent instead of responding in a bitchy way to one of my clients. I will let that debating dog lie for the moment. xo Cassi
Some people just have no manners or no common decency. I treat anyone well, who does a job that I wouldn’t wish to do myself, whatever it may be. I don’t get why someone would do otherwise.
I’m in the same boat as you right now. Only instead of human toilets, I’m cleaning horses’ toilets. They are always sweet and appreciative even though they go in and pee in the shavings immediately after I clean them.
You’re right about the money not being enough. I work so hard that I can eat more than I earn; thank goodness for all the free oranges I can pick.
Reliable, honest help is hard to find so don’t waste your time on folks who repeatedly forget how lucky they are to have you.
@judyrutrider - Judy, they are really nice people and fortunately wait til I leave to pee on their shavings
I think I may hyper sensitive about being spoken to like I am stupid…meanwhile, I ranted in lieu of confronting. No sense in stirring up shit (I crack myself up!) Oh your Moab blog made me so excited. I have been riding my road bike about daily. That is a beginning. Damn it!