"The worst kind of bourgeois twat."

[muckefuck]

For most of the my life, having maid service seemed like an inconceivable luxury. It took bunj and e. to convince me that it was an affordable one, and several years with monshu to convince me that it would be a necessity for living together.

So since the New Year, we've had a couple of meticulous Polish women visiting every other Tuesday to give the place a thorough scrubdown. Well worth eating out a couple times fewer each month, I say; monshu and I still haven't tired of rushing home each time to spell the ammonia-scented air of divine cleanliness.

Of course, having strangers come into your home and put it to rights takes some adjustment. At first, we were conscientious about tidying up the evening before their arrival. "If they can't see it, they won't clean it," e. warned us. Obviously, she never met these ladies. The first time I walked into the den, I was surprised to see the few books I'd left lying out arranged in a neat stack. But this was nothing compared to walking into the kitchen trying to figure out where they'd hidden the dish-scrubbing supplies.

There's a place for everything, and Anna and her team have a definite idea of what that place is for each and every object. In some areas, such as the pantry or liqueur tray, we've surrendered to their organisational instinct. But elsewhere, we hold firm. I want my toothbrush where I can see it, thank you. And since my name is not "Charles Foster Kane", I just as soon sit elbow-to-elbow with my better half rather than gaze at him across the length of the dining table.

I confess, now, the whole little game has begun to intrigue me. Last night, I was about to neaten the pile of books on my nighttable when it occurred to me that it might be interesting to leave everything as it was. How would they enforce order on my motley assortment of texts? And, for the first time, I didn't tuck away all my toiletries underneath the sink. How often can you say that you're anxious to see what you'll find when you go to brush your teeth?

Comments

[snousle.livejournal.com]

There's a place for everything, and Anna and her team have a definite idea of what that place is for each and every object.

I would so totally pay for that, if they were actually good at it. I don't care where they put things, I would be happy to discover it all from scratch. I find this among the most difficult things I have to do - it takes me years to get it right, and that's with quite a lot of seriousness and time put into it.

"Every thing in it's place" is dead simple. It's the "place for every thing" that has me chronically flummoxed.

[caprinus.livejournal.com]

This sounds familiar. Perhaps my mother is moonlighting?