During quarantine, people are not supposed to be going back and forth to one another’s houses, which means a lot of jobs involving domestic work simply can’t happen. Decent people have been paying their cleaners not to come because many work under the table or are undocumented and cannot apply for unemployment. If you can afford a cleaner, you can afford to keep them from starving even though they can’t scrub your toilet.
Unfortunately, there appears to be a subset of women in media in Britain who started publicly complaining about restrictions and insisting their maids WANT to be scrubbing other people’s toilets again. Former housecleaner Tabitha McIntosh had something to say about that. She shouted out all the terrible and disgusting people she’s had to clean for over the years:
Shout out to the woman who used to leave her skanky George Forman grill for me to scrape out every Friday morning. And to the one whose hoover didn’t work, necessitating 2 hours on my hands & knees with a stiff brush. And to the ones who followed me around the house, all casual
— Tabitha McIntosh (@TabitaSurge) May 13, 2020
Dad heard about my tweet and called to tell this story:
1967. He & my nan are walking out of the council estate when a car pulls up next to them. Driver rolls down the window & asks if nan would like to be his charwoman.
First time he ever told a grownup to fuck off.
— Tabitha McIntosh (@TabitaSurge) May 15, 2020
And she offered some examples of the type of people she was calling out:
And the women of cleaners = feminism are doubling down todayhttps://t.co/5IugNkOoMZ pic.twitter.com/uAPXdheI0y
— Tabitha McIntosh (@TabitaSurge) May 14, 2020
Screenshot. Just search the word ‘cleaner’ for endless versions of same pic.twitter.com/dEV4iJo9M0
— Tabitha McIntosh (@TabitaSurge) May 14, 2020
In response to her tweets, many cleaners shared their own stories of horror and weirdness from employers. Many also said in the thread that it’s okay to hire someone to help around the house, but those people should be treated as professionals, not your personal indentured servant.
It’s interesting to hear so much from those who have experienced it, and it will make anyone who does hire a cleaner understand how hard of a job it really is.
1.
My 72yo grandma has cleaned white folks’ houses since she was a teenager.
One woman she worked for for decades died a few years ago and requested my gma be there to hold her hand as she passed away.
My grandma hated that MF.
People are delusional about these relationships. https://t.co/Sm9MOe8dn7
— Robert L. Reece, PhD (@PhuzzieSlippers) May 14, 2020
2.
My Mom worked as a cleaner for years, shout out to the women who used to purposely leave money out to check she wasn’t stealing it then would forget to pay her on time!! 🙃
— Lauren (@laurencollins_) May 13, 2020
3.
Twice, I was part of a team that cleaned up a famous racing venue after the Boxing Day event. No one in the entire world is as filthy as a) jockeys, and b) the men in the corporate boxes gambling on them
— Tabitha McIntosh (@TabitaSurge) May 13, 2020
4.
I worked as a cleaner for a bit when I was first out of university. The worst was the person who gutted and descaled fish in the bath and left it for me to clean up.
People are weird. And unhygeinic.
— Katherine Schofield PhD 🇪🇺 (@katherineschof8) May 14, 2020
5.
My childhood best friends mum was a cleaner, one or two times she took us to work with her, I remember even at that age being appalled at the rude treatment she received her employers (and employers children!).
— Dan Can (@DCanUU) May 13, 2020
6.
Dear ladies who have time and energy to hide plastic bugs around the house: clean your own goddamned houses
— Tabitha McIntosh (@TabitaSurge) May 14, 2020
7.
My mother got fired because she had the audacity to pocket 5c that she found while hoovering instead of putting it in a penny jar in the kitchen. She cleaned 22 rooms by herself, including a sauna and yoga room, and they usually only gave her 3 hours to do it. 5c & she got fired
— The Old Whore’s Almanac🍑 (@oldwhorealmanac) May 14, 2020
8.
I was hired an au pair for a family in Germany to care for three small children. I found out I had to also do household cleaning, wash laundry by hand, iron and shop groceries. I was so exhausted, one day I just up and left. The Frau cried begging me to stay but I was done.
— Pamela Irene (@safaridreamer) May 14, 2020
9.
The absolute best thing is when they do this, but also stand around awkwardly to apologise and make polite conversation about the weather and such
— Tabitha McIntosh (@TabitaSurge) May 13, 2020
10.
hotel wait staff also kept making fun of us as well, esp since we were all people of colour and most of my co workers couldnt speak english very well so it was an extra flavour of racism topped off
— ❤️Զաւէն☕ (@LOVESTRUCKBEAR) May 13, 2020