I don’t have an evil Stepmother, or evil Stepsisters (just normal evil sisters), or a dead dad. But, I do know what it’s like to do Cinderella’s job.
The summer of 2015 I worked as a house cleaner for a local cleaning service. I cleaned vacant houses and apartments, new construction, and a few houses I’m sure were haunted.
I was essentially Cinderella without the dress, ball, or hot rich prince.
I’ve had a lot of jobs, I’ve worked retail, fast food (at Disney World), child care, and tutoring. But they were all better than cleaning.
In new construction houses, there are construction workers. These workers, like any humans, need to use the *ahem, facilities, every now and again. They are provided PortaPotties, but for some reason they often use the new (and typically not running) plumbing in the houses they build. Part of the checklist when you clean new houses is to check and clean the plumbing. Need I say more?
There is nothing quite as foreboding as walking into a new house in 102F heat, with no air conditioning, no electricity, and no running water.
As you may imagine, this was the worst part of the job. If possible, we’d scoop it out with something, throw it out, and continue cleaning. Unfortunately, the after cleaning could sometimes take hours. Because there was no running water, you weren’t able to flush the toilet. Because you weren’t able to flush the toilet, this made the chemicals that you are using in the summer heat very strong.
I’m not sure if I almost fainted or blacked out or accidentally got high, but you learn the hard way to let it sit and revisit later.
Another experience is cleaning a college student’s empty apartment. I will say one thing and let you imagine the rest: used condoms.
There were very few perks to this job, but the people you worked with became your second family. Neither of you want to be doing this job, but you have respect for one another because you both know what sh*t you have to go through every day. You acknowledge each other because you’re both willing to do one of the dirtiest jobs in existence to make $11 an hour.
You do what you have to. And that is something not everyone is willing to do.
SURVIVAL OF THE SAVVY 