The Job

I’m an early riser, so the 6:30am start is not a problem. It’s nice to be out and on my way to work when it’s still quiet. There’s no traffic to speak of, and everything still seems fresh and new at this time of the morning.

The work’s not easy, but I like that I can see very clear results. I get in, roll up my sleeves, scrub, scour, sweep and it’s all done. At the end of the day I don’t think any more about it. Tomorrow’s tasks will be more or less the same. Sometimes there is slightly more mess. Someone spills a whole tub of honey. Or breaks something glass. Or the mess is slightly harder to get rid of. It’s baked in, or dried, or spread into hard-to-reach spots. It doesn’t matter though, it all needs the same attention.

I don’t particularly like the smells and the grime. And I’m not sure that the cleaning detergent smells any better than the stuff it’s meant to disperse. It’s harsh and artificial, and if I don’t wear gloves my skin blisters. It does the job, but I do wonder what I’m pouring down the drain, and what it must be doing to the environment.

There’s something quite appealing about a four-hour workday. I am home everyday by lunchtime. I can run errands or nap. Do things, go places. And, as I said, I don’t have to think about it once I finish. I can think about other things.

Only problem is that the pay isn’t that great. Just under $20 an hour, and I only work four hours a day, Monday to Friday. There’s practically no money left to pay with once I pay all my bills. Do I want to look for another job?

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Today’s challenge: “Find a job ad in the paper. Write about your life if you had that job.”

This was more difficult than it sounded – mainly because I didn’t have any recent newspapers to hand. I don’t buy or read them! And I was too lazy to take a walk up to the shop to get one. Finally I had a brainwave and raided the pile of old newspapers we get from my mother, for lining the laundry room floor as a chihuahua toilet.