Most middle class people in South Africa employ the services of a domestic worker to assist in the daily running of their households.While doing work like this will never make the domestic worker a millionaire many people are simply grateful to have a job that provides steady income.While it benefits the employee and employer in most cases it can also affect your life in some unexpected ways.
I grew up in household where I had a great domestic worker that cleaned, ironed; etc, until I left the country to live and work abroad for a few years.Now that was a culture shock…a bacterial culture shock! I am the first to admit I was spoiled and never had to iron, clean or dust anything.Occasionally I would have to wash the dishes but that was about it.
When I arrived abroad and had to clean up after myself it was like pulling teeth and I realised how spoilt I had been.The dishes and washing would pile up and it took a long time for me to click and realise that I was responsible for cleaning them.It may sound ridiculous but I am sure some readers will know what I mean.
No that I am back in sunny South Africa I am pleased to say I am almost completely reformed, I will never be a neat freak but I will also never be too scared to use my own sink again.
You can imagine for yourself how wonderful it is to live in a clean, neat environment and how distressing it is when the dirt and clutter pile up.Now imagine it is not even your dirt! See yourself as a buyer walking through your home, are there mounds of dishes with rock hard congealed pasta on them.Flies buzzing around the bin,the unmistakable odour of dirty cat litter, and the ability to write your name in the layer of dust on the t.v. screen are all really off-putting.
Many readers will know I am not exaggerating about the congealed pasta, it seems some people either care very little about the state they live in or are completely blind to the problem.Sellers out there must realise nobody will want to buy your house if they are completely grossed out by it.
What I was saying before is that even a non-neat freak like me knows when the house is dirty and can figure out how to clean it.That is why cleaning products have instructions on them.Some people may even find they no longer want to sell their home once they realise what is hidden under all that junk.
