Respect your cleaning lady

My mother has been telling me for months that the cleaning lady was an opera singer back in Hungary. Everyone claims to have been something amazing back in the old country, though, so I didn't think much of it.But I liked her, because she spoke English better than most of Mom's cleaning ladies and could chat with me.

She returns to Hungary later this week, and today was her last day cleaning for us. I asked her to sing. She did a few voice exercises, and then sang a Mozart aria - and it was fantabulous! She had this gorgeous, rich voice and incredible control.

People, every single one of them, are more than what they seem.

I will stand on line someday to get her autograph after having paid an inordinate amount of money for tickets to hear her sing.

I look forward to being able to say that she used to clean my bathroom and always moved the apricot scrub to the wrong corner of the shower.

I make it a point to learn the names of the custodial staff at the hospital. And I chat wih them when I'm not completely overwhelmed by my work.

I find it ironic that doctors won't talk to the people working under them and yet are expected to treat all patients with equal dignity and respect. It doesn't compute and I see it coming out in the care I see patients getting where doctors definately treat patients differently based on socioeconomic class.

Some of the nurses and techs here were MD's with more training than I have and more experience than I have in their home countries. You can never judge a book by its cover and you should always treat all people with complete respect until they actively do something to merit other treatment.

blessed be

i'm in complete agreement

When you make the effort to be caring it will come back to you. I hope anyway. Pay it forward.

Well done Regyt.

When I see someone in trouble I try to think that could be me, my child, mum etc and hope that my helping will motivate them to help others.

That lady will go back home with a better opinion because you cared to ask about her instead of treating her like hired help. Who knows she might send you tickets to her show.

We need to counter the loneliness and negativity in this world as ofetn as possible.

Way to go Lightning. It pays off too in that when you want some help with the vomit cleaning, urgent stores or whatever they know you and WANT to help you.

I wish I had a cleaning lady.

has anyone seen Deimos on lately?

My postman looks like Dennis Hopper.

too right, as someone who used to do this (cleaning) you have to be quite proud person to get on your knees and clean someone elses toilet! then for them to treat you like something the just stepped in is a kick in the face, and makes you question who really is the better person!? once i even spoke to my employer and was ignored!(he did hear me cos he looked at me) i quit pretty soon after that

Every person is more than they first appear. The amount of disrespect manual workers get is appalling. I bet you made her day askng her to sing for you.

I hate the fact that most people judge other on their job and appearance.

Just because someone chose a certain career path that wasn't as "high" as theirs, or someone had a different background therefore not doing something considered a good job. I've even seen it working the other way - some people with lesser respected jobs criticising (sp?) people with "higher" job!

Oh well. That i suppose is life.

Regyt - Thats so cool.

the only time we ever had a cleaning lady, it was a relief those rare instances when her mouth was closed.....

but it is a sweet story regyt .

i always try to be nice to the cleaners at school. a school must be one of the worse things to clean (someone can prove me wrong, cos i wouldnt know!) and ive been to a country where students have to clean the school themselves! and although i apreciated the cleaners before my trip, i certainly appreciate them even more now!

I have had various different cleaning jobs in the past, the worst was in a pub - you wouldn't believe the mess I had to clean up! So whenever I go into pubs now I always show respect to the person who has to come in to clean the following morning.
I have also cleaned private houses (including grimey toilets) where the inhabitants have treated me like crap until they realised I was probably better educated than themselves.
In this web that is life it is often the little people who contribute most productively to the larger frame of things.

Ugh. I have to do some serious cleaning today. The problem of not having time to clean my own apartment and do my own laundry is getting seriously annoying.

I may have to hire a cleaning lady. And she'll be treated with respect.

i have a cleaning job at a leisure centre, people treat me like the poo i have to clean up.

strange thing is im also a lifeguard at the same sports centre, im not gonna refuse to save these people just because they are mean.

there was a point to that but i can't remember it.

oh, and i always stop to have a chat to the lady that cleaned my house.

and i make it a point to brew up a tea for the lady who empties my bin at uni everyday. she also has to clean our bathrooms and kitchen. poor lady, dealing with the mess of students. and to be fair, we are messy.

i guess im just trying to say that not all people are mean to others, especially those that have experienced how bad and underappreciated u can feel doing somebody elses dirty work.

Our cleaners bring us fresh baked cakes! It's my bday next week so I'm due a nice sticky toffee sponge type affair....mmmm.....sticky.....

actually the caretaker in my school was probably the most-respected person there... the scariest, too, but definitely well-respected. He got more attention than 20 teachers together when he told us off for something

oooOOOOOooooooh!

hes got you there.

i could handle a cleaner. Or a personal slave. cos you don't have to pay them.