Comments | lilmissnever: Concrete Bourgeoisie

lilmissnever

Concrete Bourgeoisie

Aug 11, 2010 18:48

This is the year. When I think back on my life, this will surely be the turning point, the moment on which everything pivots. Sometime in 2010, somewhere around July, my decent into the bourgeois reached completion: I am no longer the sort of person who cleans her own house ( Read more... )

cleaning, bunker 2, assorted class issues, domestic bliss

Comments 15

wyndebreaker August 12 2010, 03:03:00 UTC

My parents hire housekeepers from self-help for the elderly.
They're less prone to steal things, but on the down side, more prone to die on the job.

lilmissnever August 12 2010, 18:06:38 UTC

I am in favor of giving money to the elderly, but I think that cleaning my bunker is a physically rigorous job. Lil' Missus Never maintains an elderly housekeeper of uncertain Eastern European origin who comes in twice a month and cleans things. My mother, the obsessive-compulsive floor scrubber, has always felt that her services were deeply inadequate, but she refuses to stop paying her because she sees it as charity.

I am not an obsessive-compulsive floor scrubber. I need someone who will actually clean my house.

mooflyfoof August 12 2010, 03:23:19 UTC

We might have to get his name from you. We are also woefully bad at housekeeping, and now that Ed has a Job again, we can afford to not live in filth any more. :D

lilmissnever August 12 2010, 18:28:47 UTC

I'm happy to pass the reference along. He has done an excellent job so far, so I am happy to give him more business.

I have heard some housekeeper horror stories -- like the Moderately Famous Television Personality who had to fire his housekeeper of many years because he discovered that the guy had been stealing his Prada jackets -- but I think that's just a risk that you take when you let someone into your house and have them touch all of your stuff.

bodyfour August 12 2010, 06:05:59 UTC

Yeah, I should probably talk to you.

lilmissnever August 12 2010, 18:31:11 UTC

You know where I live.

cholula August 12 2010, 22:43:17 UTC

Bravo! I too am finally ready to to hire a housekeeper ( ... )

lilmissnever August 12 2010, 23:51:40 UTC

Oh, the gender issues! Oh, the class issues! I still feel a little resentful that the state of the house in which J and I live is somehow more of a reflection of my value as a woman than it is of his value as a man. I still feel like I must be a spoiled, out-of-touch white girl to even consider letting someone else come in and do the cleaning for me. I had to get rid of a lot of stupid mental garbage in order to hire this guy, but having had him around for a few weeks, I must say that it is absolutely worthwhile. He shows up, cleans my house, and I pay him a reasonable amount for it. I come home and I don't feel bad for reading a book instead of mopping the floor.

The night before the housekeeper is supposed to show up, J and I run around the house putting things away in order to make it easier for him to clean. It's made the house much, much neater. I have pictures on my walls now. It's rather nice.

raychoo August 13 2010, 06:40:11 UTC

If you want another recommendation to give out to people,
http://www.homegreenhomesf.com/
is a worker-owned co-op, part of a group that focuses on creating well-paying, healthy jobs for low-income women.

I WISH I could afford a housekeeper (and I would also have to get over a bunch of class issues before I felt like I could hire someone), but I have heard good things about that place.