Upper class problems
this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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My mother seriously recommended I hire cleaners if I wasn't able to always keep my place clean at a time in my life where I was super busy.
I made like $30k in 2014. I wasn't poor by any stretch, but suggesting I hire cleaners was a clear indicator of how out of touch she was with the lower half of the middle class.
That’s what $14 an hour? That’s minimum wage in most U.S states.
It is now but the comment mentioned 2014.
I graduated college in '14 and got my first professional job that August. I made $17.09 an hour and I was an 85% FTE. I was still in grad school at the time (never finished, whoops). That inflates to right about $22 today, if the BLS' inflation numbers are to be trusted. Or about $39k at 85% FTE
My rent was $800 in uptown Oklahoma City.
Again, I was doing alright for a single guy with a bachelor's degree at 22 with little work experience. I kept my bills and rent paid. I got to buy a PC component every once in a while. Sure, I wasn't going on vacation every year, but I wasn't starving.
But I was a long way away from hiring cleaners. I couldn't really afford a therapist back then. Which I desperately needed more than I realized.
Oklahoma's minimum wage still follows federal, but most places do start at $9 or $10 anymore. Still not nearly enough. And that's really in the city. Out in the sticks, you're making $7.25.
My mother makes a near median salary but still hires someone to clean her apartment every 2 weeks because she hates cleaning. To pay for it and other things she does pet sitting and travel booking on the side.
Division of labor is a useful thing.
Comfortable middle class. Upper class people have full time servants. They don't come to your house. They're just always there.
The traditional definition of middle class was being able to afford a servant or two.
These days it's certainly well within middle class income to hire a cleaning service, have groceries delivered, etc.
"the cleaners are coming" said literally nobody I know. Can't relate to this at all.
But what if you're the cleaner, and your cumming?
Their cumming what?
I don't have cleaners. But the last time I saw this joke made a commenter opened OPs eyes with something along the lines of:
Imagine hiring cleaners gives you a +2 to your cleanliness level.
You start at 5. +Cleaners: 7
Clean first to get to 7 on your own? +Cleaners: 9
Also. Cleaners will start with the easy shit like dishes. If dishes are done they have to go deeper to clean harder shit. Get your money's worth.
I’ve never understood this thought process. Sure, getting some stuff out of their way makes sense (like getting shoes off the floor so the cleaners can vacuum), but why clean?
A few reasons I clean before they arrive:
- They're not paid great so I'd rather not inconvenience them too much and let them get into their next gig faster.
- I don't want them putting non dishwasher items in the dishwasher and potentially ruining them.
- You will lose items because they're organizing your place and will put stuff not where you expect it.
- They tend to do a deeper clean when they're not focusing on cleaning up the smaller stuff you can take care of yourself
Okay. These reasons make sense. Thanks!
It's called an anxiety disorder. shame and guilt and embarrassment
They don't want others to think they're dirty/unclean/etc so they do this. It's the same reason some people won't call a handyman to fix a problem, or go to a doctor/dentist, they're afraid of someone knowing they couldn't fix or take care of themselves.
More often than not I suspect that is the case, anecdotally though neighbors of mine have a different approach. They are very clean and only have a cleaner come in once every two months. They also have an immunocompromised child so slightly different situation.
One time we got to talking about it and they said it was to clean more thoroughly than they could. The cleaners come in with the expertise and more importantly the tools to make sure their house is clean enough for their child.
The really good cleaning equipment is really expensive to buy and once you're renting it it's not much more expensive to just pay someone to use it. They are far more well off than me, that's for sure, but they're not rich.
What really good cleaning equipment do you think your average cleaner has? A steam mop?
Ever brush your teeth just before going in for a routine dental cleaning?
I just do that to be courteous to the dentist, so my breath isn’t gross. I know it’s still obvious that I don’t floss. I see what you’re getting at, but it isn’t quite the same.
I just do that to be courteous to the cleaner, so my home isn’t gross.
ʘ‿ʘ
Wait, do you go to the dentist literally just to get them to clean your teeth? As in they’re not checking for cavities or issues, they just brush and floss you and you’re on your way? That’s super weird.
I only go once a year for a checkup - they give me a clean as well, but that’s not the purpose of the visit. I’ve never met anyone who goes to the dentist just for a clean.
I believe your "checkup" and their "routine cleaning" are the same thing.
Lots of people (myself included) refer to it as a "cleaning" because, well, regardless of anything else, that's what they actually do to you. I don't know anyone who goes to a dentist just to have them look but they don't touch. They clean you, too. That's almost always the only physical takeaway effect of one of these visits.
Also, a dentist cleans your teeth in a way you almost certainly can't. Their practiced hands know exactly what needs to be scraped away, and they can make informed decisions on what tool to do it with and how aggressively to not cause enamel damage. Not to mention they can, y'know, actually see what they're doing in there. So a "simple cleaning" isn't quite as pedestrian as it sounds. It's not something you can fully replicate by scraping around blindly with a metal pick in your mouth.
I have never once been to a dentist and had them clean my teeth.
In the UK at least they have a look and a poke around, make sure you've not got any problems and send you on your way
Insert joke about British dentition here...
I am in the US and I've never had them clean either.
They bill you for that shit. It's $50 for X-rays and poking around. If you want them to brush your teeth for you - it's $200 and then they still want $50 for the X-rays and Poking Around Why would I pay that?
It's more than just brushing and flossing, they grind off plaque etc. Preventative maintenance for teeth basically.
Imagine being rich enough to hire cleaners
I'm definitely not rich.
I'm not living in a box down by the river and using a rat as a pillow either.
Both of us work, and with kids thrown into the mix, it gets chaotic around here. Cleaners are the one splurge we do, and it's so we can spend time with our kids rather than doing chores.
You should also feel bad you’re literate, ya cake eater
My rat taught me to read while I wasn't using it as a pillow
That's a shame, you could've selected the martial arts skill instead from the rat.
Wait, people actually hire people to clean their house?
I thought that was only in movies. Have you ever heard of just.... Picking up after yourself?
If you think cleaning is picking up after yourself you haven't actually cleaned. If I had just a tiny bit more disposable income I'd love to spend it on someone properly cleaning the apartment.
Between two full time jobs, commute, and a toddler there is not much time, much less energy, to clean beyond a quick vacuum, and wipe down of the bathroom once a week.
Yeah, I was being a bit purposefully ignorant that day
Cleaners?
Of course I know him, he's me.