Categories: family
Date: 30 January 2009 20:24:18
We have three lodgers. Male lodgers. Occasionally they attempt to clean their rooms. Slightly ineptly. Sometimes I want to stand in the hall and shout, 'Vacuuming up dust is not that difficult'. And yet for some it is.
The problem is not that they can't vacuum, it's that they expect the vacuum cleaner to handle a lot more than dust. We have a bagless cleaner. I am the one who always empties the cylinder into the bin. Dust is often accompanied by pennies, and occasionally a pound coin. I pocket the lot. To buy chocolate to calm my nerves. Sometimes I find rubber bands or pen lids. One day I found a whole biro in the cleaner. How the entire pen made it up the hose I don't know, but it did. However, today went beyond even that.
Our vacuum cleaner has seen a lot of action today. Lodger #3 cleaned his room and then Mr Standard tackled the filo pastry explosion that was our tea. (Note to self: never give kids anything made with filo pastry again.) Mr Standard had some difficulty as the vacuum seemed to be reluctant to suck. Then it started to smell of burning. He investigated the situation. A formal black bow tie was stuck in the cleaner. How does anyone vacuum up an item of evening wear and not notice they're doing it? I am speechless.