Making A Clean Break

(I work as a house cleaner. I work individually, in very large fancy houses, and spend a whole day working on cleaning a house. This particular house has a housewife with too much time and money on her hands, who enjoys hiring people to criticize, humiliate, and harass them. I am in one of the upstairs bedrooms vacuuming when my arm gets grabbed from behind. This already has crossed a line with me. I spin around and pull my arm away. The “lady” of the house looks furious.)

Lady: “You didn’t clean the mud room bathroom yet, did you?”

(I have, because she asked me to, so I tell her I have.)

Lady: *face turning red* “NO, you didn’t. The toilet hasn’t been cleaned; it’s disgusting.”

Me: *confused, because I know I cleaned it* “I’ll check when I get back downstairs. I have a little bit more to do upstairs, then I’ll check on my way out.”

Lady:  “No, come with me right now.”

(Annoyed, but resigned, I follow her downstairs. All of my cleaning supplies are upstairs as I don’t have time to grab them. We get to the bathroom and, indeed, there are s***-stains in the toilet, obviously from a recent “drop.” It was not there when I had cleaned it an hour earlier.)

Me: “I’m sorry, but I cleaned the toilet. This must have happened after I cleaned it.”

Lady: “How dare you call me a liar! I’m the only other person here and I didn’t do it. You’re going to clean this up right now.”

Me: “I can re-clean it on my way out after I finish the upstairs, if that’s okay. My cleaning supplies are upstairs.”

(Before I can stop her, she grabs my hand and shoves it into the s***-streaked toilet, using it like a toilet brush.)

Lady: “You’ll do it now.”

(When I finally realize what is happening, and the initial shock has worn off, I stand up, wash my hand, walk out of the house, get in my car, and drive away, leaving all of the companies cleaning products and expensive vacuum behind. The next morning I go into the office to face the consequences for my actions and get my walking papers. My boss gives me a big hug when I walk in.)

Boss: “That woman called after you left and tried to get you fired. She called me every name in the book, and relayed to me how she had to force your hand into the toilet to teach you a lesson. Then her husband interrupted the phone call to correct his wife. It seems that he had actually come home while you was upstairs, and had taken a giant s*** and left the mess, but didn’t tell his wife he was home because he wanted some peace and quiet before dinner!”

(As my boss relayed this I started crying. My boss then asked me to go back to the house to pick up the gear I left. When I knocked on the door, the client answered without a word, turned around, and walked back into the house. On her way, she gave a big, angry kick to the expensive company vacuum cleaner and hissed, “b****” under her breathe. I drove back to office instead of my first client for the day and quit on the spot. I vowed to never let anyone treat me like that ever again. It’s never worth the money.)