(Warning: contains swearing. You'll see why, I hope.)
Considering that I am constantly fighting with piles of dirty dishes in my little kitchen, you'd think that the first thing I'd want my cleaner to do is wash them. And I used to. But I quickly realised that although the dishes moved from the pile, through the soapy water in the sink and to the drainer, the vast majority of them didn't end up being clean. It turned out to be a great big waste of time - and a huge disappointment - and I had to wash the stupid things myself anyway.
So now I do them myself, eventually. When my cleaner comes, once a fortnight, I'll sit and do my dishes while he or she is doing the housework tasks I find difficult (rather than just annoying). I have also even been known to do a sink full of dishes in between cleaning visits, often in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, or when I have other pressing things to do (procrasticleaning).
I only have someone for 90 precious minutes a fortnight. I use that time to have my bed changed, my bathroom cleaned, the floors vacuumed and mopped, and my rubbish and recycling taken out. Only the really good ones can get through that whole list in the time, and there's only been one cleaner so far that does it just as I like it; she even has time to vacuum the dog beds!
When the cleaner came this last time, one I'd never had before, we ended up having quite a tussle over what was to get done. Every other person has simply asked me what I wanted them to do, and has done it. This guy had his own ideas about what needed to be done, and wasn't about to take my word for what I wanted to have done.
He also, unlike every other person that's come to help me, made disparaging comments about the state of my place (there's a good reason I receive a subsidised domestic assistance service), how much stuff he had to move around my bathroom sink, and even had the extremely bad manners to ask what was "wrong" with me. All this was irritating enough, then he kept on insisting that he could do my dishes for me "in 5 minutes", if I would just fill the sink with cold water. Cold!!
Far OUT.
I kept repeating that I wanted him to finish all the other tasks first, as there often wasn't enough time for everything. He kept arguing. I kept insisting. He eventually went back to what he was supposed to be doing, sort of, and I got on with the washing up.
I know it seems a stupid paradox that I'd rather keep my dishes dirty than have someone else not clean them properly, but that's just how I am. When I eventually clean my dishes, I like them to be really clean, so I got even more annoyed when the bloke comes back, saying he's finished the bathroom etc, and proceeds to dry up the dishes I've washed - and piles them up on a dirty bread board.
Arse.
While doing this, he kept up a constant commentary about how badly arranged my kitchen is, how I should arrange it more effectively, and even started opening drawers and cupboards. He got excited when he found some empty spaces, and wasn't to be discouraged when I pointed out that those drawers have mould behind them, and that cupboard houses cockroaches I can't get rid of. He was of the opinion that I just hadn't cleaned them enough.
F@*k OFF.
That was the final straw. I said that I wasn't doing any more today, and that there was nothing else to do, so he could leave. Please.
Not only was he intrusive, insensitive and intensely annoying, he also did a particularly crap job at cleaning my place. I don't think he even touched the shower, or if he did, he worked around the drain and the shampoo bottle that had fallen down. I also noticed later that he'd thrown away my recycling bin - I hadn't let him throw away the basket of feminine hygiene products I keep beside the toilet, or the other random objects he kept bringing me, so I suppose I was lucky that was the only thing he chucked out.
I must have had a couple of dozen different people come do to my cleaning service over the past couple of years. They have been male and female, young and old, experienced and inexperienced, and this is the first time I've had such a bad experience. Not all of them have done a brilliant job, but they've all been at least somewhat helpful, and done it respectfully.
Except this guy.
He also ruined my after-cleaning treat of taking a nap on my freshly-made bed. Not only had he put me in a really bad mood, he hadn't made the bed very nicely.
Bastard.
Considering that I am constantly fighting with piles of dirty dishes in my little kitchen, you'd think that the first thing I'd want my cleaner to do is wash them. And I used to. But I quickly realised that although the dishes moved from the pile, through the soapy water in the sink and to the drainer, the vast majority of them didn't end up being clean. It turned out to be a great big waste of time - and a huge disappointment - and I had to wash the stupid things myself anyway.
 |
| Mine aren't as pretty, but I do have a yellow bowl. |
So now I do them myself, eventually. When my cleaner comes, once a fortnight, I'll sit and do my dishes while he or she is doing the housework tasks I find difficult (rather than just annoying). I have also even been known to do a sink full of dishes in between cleaning visits, often in the middle of the night when I can't sleep, or when I have other pressing things to do (procrasticleaning).
I only have someone for 90 precious minutes a fortnight. I use that time to have my bed changed, my bathroom cleaned, the floors vacuumed and mopped, and my rubbish and recycling taken out. Only the really good ones can get through that whole list in the time, and there's only been one cleaner so far that does it just as I like it; she even has time to vacuum the dog beds!
When the cleaner came this last time, one I'd never had before, we ended up having quite a tussle over what was to get done. Every other person has simply asked me what I wanted them to do, and has done it. This guy had his own ideas about what needed to be done, and wasn't about to take my word for what I wanted to have done.
He also, unlike every other person that's come to help me, made disparaging comments about the state of my place (there's a good reason I receive a subsidised domestic assistance service), how much stuff he had to move around my bathroom sink, and even had the extremely bad manners to ask what was "wrong" with me. All this was irritating enough, then he kept on insisting that he could do my dishes for me "in 5 minutes", if I would just fill the sink with cold water. Cold!!
Far OUT.
I kept repeating that I wanted him to finish all the other tasks first, as there often wasn't enough time for everything. He kept arguing. I kept insisting. He eventually went back to what he was supposed to be doing, sort of, and I got on with the washing up.
I know it seems a stupid paradox that I'd rather keep my dishes dirty than have someone else not clean them properly, but that's just how I am. When I eventually clean my dishes, I like them to be really clean, so I got even more annoyed when the bloke comes back, saying he's finished the bathroom etc, and proceeds to dry up the dishes I've washed - and piles them up on a dirty bread board.
Arse.
While doing this, he kept up a constant commentary about how badly arranged my kitchen is, how I should arrange it more effectively, and even started opening drawers and cupboards. He got excited when he found some empty spaces, and wasn't to be discouraged when I pointed out that those drawers have mould behind them, and that cupboard houses cockroaches I can't get rid of. He was of the opinion that I just hadn't cleaned them enough.
F@*k OFF.
That was the final straw. I said that I wasn't doing any more today, and that there was nothing else to do, so he could leave. Please.
Not only was he intrusive, insensitive and intensely annoying, he also did a particularly crap job at cleaning my place. I don't think he even touched the shower, or if he did, he worked around the drain and the shampoo bottle that had fallen down. I also noticed later that he'd thrown away my recycling bin - I hadn't let him throw away the basket of feminine hygiene products I keep beside the toilet, or the other random objects he kept bringing me, so I suppose I was lucky that was the only thing he chucked out.
I must have had a couple of dozen different people come do to my cleaning service over the past couple of years. They have been male and female, young and old, experienced and inexperienced, and this is the first time I've had such a bad experience. Not all of them have done a brilliant job, but they've all been at least somewhat helpful, and done it respectfully.
Except this guy.
He also ruined my after-cleaning treat of taking a nap on my freshly-made bed. Not only had he put me in a really bad mood, he hadn't made the bed very nicely.
Bastard.
 |
| Me, for the rest of that day. |
Oh honey that's awful. He needs to go back to community service work 101. Listen to the client.
ReplyDeleteAs a male nurse, I would like to personally offer to SLAP him silly. oops too late.
ReplyDeletepeople like him enjoy being martyrs to their clients, so they can tell their friends later what heroes they are and how they give so selflessly to others. Makes me sick.
I find volunteer organisations riddled with people like this.
Keep saying NO and hold out, there's plenty more nice carers than not.
I think I found him so horrendous because all my previous experience had been positive. I hope there really aren't too many out there like that.
DeleteSituations like this make me wonder about the people who can't assert themselves, and what their experience would be like.
ReplyDeleteI had one like that, he even managed to severly scratch my bathroom mirror and then tried to tell me it was already like that (I did get his employers to replace it) I would get frustrated when the notsogood cleaners would not put things back, like the toilet roll holders and bins they put onto the toilet to do the floors or chairs on the bench. I just kept calling their employer and tellingthem who I liked and who was not wwelcome in my home. I ended up getting the ones I liked.
ReplyDelete