Ahem.
In a moment I’m going to climb up on a soapbox.
But first, I’ll explain what brought about this post.
I had lunch with my best friend recently. She casually brought up the subject of hiring a house cleaner. And asked if I think I’ll ever be able to justify having one.
My passionate response surprised her a little.
I know that my blog is about me cleaning my house, so there’s that little issue. (Don’t worry. I’m not getting a maid any time soon. Unfortunately.)
But . . . as a general rule . . . I’m all for paying someone to clean.
Anyone. Any time. I think everyone who can possibly afford one should have a maid.
Or cleaning person. Or whatever is the appropriate term at this moment in time.
As we were leaving, she told me the real reason she had brought up the subject of hiring cleaners.
Her husband owns a business and had a job he’d like her to do for the company. Her first response was that maybe doing this job could justify her hiring someone to clean her house.
Her husband’s response? You don’t need to do this job to justify hiring a cleaning person. We can afford one right now, so if you want one . . . get one.
And yet she didn’t hop on the phone and schedule the first one she could find.
Here’s the gist of the Soapbox Speech I gave her right there in the El Fenix parking lot:
GET A MAID!! Why in the world, when you can afford it, and you need one, would you NOT get a maid??
Hiring someone to clean your house isn’t admitting defeat. It’s solving a problem. Who cares if you could eventually figure out a way to keep your toilets clean if you just tried hard enough?
If you can hire someone, you should.
How did we end up in a world where there is some sort of stigma associated with hiring someone to clean your house for you?
Hiring someone to clean is a win win. You get a cleaner house. Your family enjoys a cleaner house. You increase your hospitality because you’re more willing to have people over AND you have more time to spend on the other aspects of hospitality.
(Though I must say she’s already one of the most hospitable people I’ve ever known.)
Someone else gets a job. That amount of money you’re willing (and able) to pay someone else to clean your house goes to someone who NEEDS that money. Someone who is then able to spend that money on things he/she needs for his/her family.
You’re helping your family. You’re helping the person who needs the opportunity to earn some money. You’re helping the economy!
She was a little surprised by my passion.
But for real, I’m all about doing what needs to be done without letting “shoulds” get in the way.
And I may have mentioned this before, but part of my passion comes from my experience living in Thailand for two years. I had a maid. Weekly. I know (from experience) that having a maid does not solve slob problems. Really. The two are almost unrelated.
Someone in Bangkok explained to me that it was actually considered wrong to NOT have a maid if you could afford one because you were denying someone else the opportunity to provide for their family. That just makes so much sense to me.
OK. I’m done now. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments. Or to explain which term is politically correct.
Tomorrow . . . I’m excited to publish a post written by one of YOU which shows that having a housekeeper does not solve slob problems. It helps, but doesn’t make them go away.
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Several have asked how to find a cleaner. My best advice is to ask people you know. I hired someone to clean for a HUGE party once, and this was what I did. I was VERY surprised to find out that so many of my friends had regular cleaning people. This is the best way to find someone local, with a reference, who is hopefully trustworthy.
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--Nony