I Hate My Boss. (original) (raw)

I Hate My Boss by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal

Iknow that in the past I have devoted entirely too much time and space in these columns to the subject of housework. It is dreary, it is boring and I hate it. I work full time, I bring half of the money into this house and yet there it is, always in my face, always nagging at me, the need to clean the house. I want to give full credit to my husband. He will often come home after working a full 10 hour day, cut the grass and then cook supper. He often does the grocery shopping and is a good sport about doing laundry. This problem of mine is not because he doesn�t help. It is because there is always plenty of housework to go around and just about the time you finish you have to start again. And I hate it!

I used to tell the kids, "Hey! I just got a phone call from the White House! The President and First Lady are coming to dinner and they will be here in two hours!" They knew I was playing, but it was a very fun way to get us all galvanized, working fast, and doing a good job. Only the kids are either gone now or unavailable. My husband won�t play and I can�t convince myself that it is true. Besides, we have a different president now. So that�s out. Lately I have been doing the bare minimum. Tidying up as opposed to cleaning. That won�t do either because, while I don�t like to clean, I do like things clean.

I have come up with a solution. I pretend that I am my own maid and that cleaning the house is my job. I know that I have to do a good job because my boss (me) is very particular. And I am not very nice about it when I don�t do a good job. I need this job so I don�t want to make me mad and end up getting fired. I always try to finish up in a timely manner because I get so irritated when I come home and find me still working and my cleaning supplies junking up the place. I work very hard all day and I need for things to be nice when I get home. I don�t like a bunch of hullabaloo and I don�t like it when I bother myself with inconsequential details like we are getting low on Pine Cleaner or something stupid like that. I am a grown woman and if we are running low on Pine Cleaner I expect me to know what to do about it and not bother me with the gory details.

	TE Postcard Archive

This method is great! I did a fantastic job on the living room yesterday, sweeping, dusting, moving furniture, polishing woodwork. It looked great. I was sure that I would be pleased with the results but just as I came in to inspect it I noticed that I had forgotten to dust the mantle. I noticed the same thing at almost the exact same moment. Who could miss something like that? If I had been cleaning the living room I wouldn�t have missed it and I don�t expect me to miss it either. What do you think would happen at my job if I paid as little attention to detail as that? "I dunno," I muttered, but inside I was hating me and I was wishing I would just shut up and go away so that I could dust the mantle in peace and get out of there. I was so mad. So was I.

As if I needed any further aggravation, I think my husband was trying to come on to me. I noticed that I sometimes take him for granted. He seems like a really nice guy and I am not sure that I really know how good I have it. I can�t blame him for responding to what I consider to be common courtesy and kindness. But I must say it makes me feel a little uneasy to know that when I am going about some task his eyes are always on me. Of course, and I am not saying this to be vain, I am better looking than me, and I am certainly nicer. I think he and I probably have more in common than me and him. But believe me, I am not going to get all tangled up in something like starting a relationship with my husband. I know I would fire me and then where would I be? Back to cleaning my own house, that�s where!