Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Turning into my Mother

We all do it. We hear our mothers whining that they're turning into their mothers, and the fact is we're destined for exactly the same fate.

Every single morning...

This morning I decided that cleaning a backpackers' hostel is no longer good for the soul. For almost a month I've been without a companion to help me - instead of a fun and practical way to start the day it's been a solitary slog from kitchen to bathroom to kitchen to bathroom (in total there are 6 kitchens and 10 bathrooms), picking up strangers' pubes from toilet seats and hefting industrial vacuum cleaners up and down the stairs.

Yesterday I came to the very last kitchen only to be confronted with a pile of breakfast dishes that some lazy sods had decided to just dump on the draining board, right next to the clearly written and laminated sign instructing them to avoid doing exactly that.

"Please take other guests into consideration and wash, dry and put away all the items you use in the kitchen."

I finished my morning chores suppressing a curse and returning to the tranquil, unaffected state that I've learned to live in through meditation.

...every single morning...

When, however, I this morning went to back to the kitchen and found the same pile of used dishes, I exploded. "WHOSE ARE THESE?" I belowed across the hallway to the nearby dormitories. One poor girl was caught in the stream of my wrath: "Um, I think everybody's just been leaving them".
"WELL I'VE HAD IT! EVERY BLOODY MORNING, I'M NOT DOING IT ANY MORE - YOU CAN DAMN WELL CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELVES!". I stormed down the stairs with a sweep and a stomp.

I spent much of the rest of the morning muttering to myself, things like "look at the state of this bath tub, this was spotless yesterday, how on earth have they got it like this?", and "Oh for goodness sake, surely they could have put their own curry boxes in the bin, not left them on the floor".

And that was when I heard it: 'when will you children learn to clear up after yourselves? I'm fed up of tidying up after you all the time. And you're just as bad - what's this? Why are these here? Put it away!'. It had happened. Without even procreating, I had become my poor mother exasperated with her inconsiderate family.

Can you enter 'big kids'?

Run away!

Once the cleaning was finished I took my laptop to the library and booked a flight to Sydney. I will carry on working here but only until Saturday - then I'm packing my bags and heading back to the big city. I've made appointments to view some lovely apartments near the harbour (and, more importantly, near ALDI), and will resume my job hunting in person there. I'm sorry to break my contract with the hostel but I think they've had the benefit of me!

6 comments:

  1. Oh that brings back memories of a shared house in Manchester. I went out to a charity shop one day and bought a dish so I didn't have to scrub someone else's mouldy cereal encrusted dishes before I could have breakfast.
    They drove me insane! They stored dirty crockery in their bedrooms too - which meant slowly the kitchen emptied of dishes and plates and mugs.
    It filled up with binbags as they seemed incapable of ever opening the back door and taking them out.
    Horrid.

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    1. Ew! No, that's not good behaviour.

      The problem I've got here is that people really only stay here for one night... I can shout myself hoarse at them in the morning, but they'll all be checked out by 10am and a new lot of disgusting pigs will start to arrive!

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  2. Hi Emily, I've just found your blog through a link on a camping forum - I've only read this page and part of the previous one but really looking forward to reading lots more.

    I can sympathise with your frustration at people who don't keep things clean and tidy - I work as an office cleaner and the state of some of the places, especially kitchens and toilets, have to be seen to be believed sometimes, and that's from so-called civilised human beings in good jobs. At least you get to see different disgusting pigs every day, I just get the same ones week in week out! lol
    Eunice

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  3. Well I've finally managed to read the whole blog up to date. A great read, and you've convinced me of one thing - I will NEVER have a VW campervan!! lol

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    1. Haha! Oh, I really wouldn't ever trade the experience though :-) Cecil had real personality and gave me a summer I'll never forget. I've stayed in touch with his new owners too who are having a great time with him, hopefully for years to come!

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