First World Problems

Auntie M has been searching for help with the house cleaning ever since her former helper retired after 25 years of caring for them..  She, herself, was irreplaceable.

But the need did not vanish with her.  Houses do not clean themselves.  Auntie M has no business being up on a ladder or bending down to mop a floor.  She struggled to find a reliable source of labor.  

Down to the last 4 of the dozen or so names on the list she gleaned from friends and acquaintances, she stumbled upon a woman who showed up on the appointed day, at the appointed hour.  That, in itself, was a surprise; her last potential employee insisted that she would arrive the day before Auntie M expected her.  Auntie M's No led to her being ghosted.  

This woman was friendly and energetic and there they were,  Auntie M and her new house cleaner, on a sunny afternoon.  Cleaning was happening.  All was right in the world.

And then, Auntie M went into the kitchen.

In one hand, her new helper was holding a strip of what later turned out to be paint from the cabinets and the wall.

In her other hand was oven cleaner.

Look! The paint is just peeling off!  I never saw this before!

Auntie M is a mild mannered woman. 

Of course you haven't!! Who uses OVEN CLEANER ON THE WALLS???!!!!

And then Auntie M looked at the other strips of pain, lying well below where they were intended to be, and she had to wonder aloud, and yet you kept doing it.

Cue much laughter over the phone.  

And then there was this, said as only something can be said between a brother and a sister who know each other all too well.

So, you hired her to come back, right?

Of course.