What's That Smell?
Housework. Some people are allergic to it. I know I am. But there's allergies and there's allergies. My allergy refers to non-essential cleaning, such as dust, windows, etc. Putting things away is also not my forte. Plates, pots and pans, clothes, and other things and areas are kept rather clean. I don't accumulate five bags of trash, for instance, before taking it outside. But then there are the allergies to housework that belong to college students.
I assume many students are the same. Different people living in rented apartments. Classes, study, parties, errands. Then there's probably the eternal, "It was your turn today." "No, my turn is on Tuesdays." "But I exchanged with you last Tuesday because Wednesday was impossble." "I don't have a signed contract mentioning that." And so on. In the end, when you walk into a student apartment, the first thing you notice is the smell. You are forced to ask, "When was the last time you took out the trash?" It turns out either the trash has accumulated and attracted consumers, or it has been taken and the smell comes from a hermetically closed (!) refrigerator where a grey, shapeless mass lies on a plate, looking like something no self-respecting starving cat would touch.
The second thing you notice is all the plates, cups, saucers, glasses, bowls, platters, etc. adorning every available surface, sofa included. "When did you last wash the dishes?" "Um, last Monday?" Today is Sunday. You're not sure if it was a blessing or not that the owner of the apartment also supplied kitchenware, on top of what the students brought from home. It seems to foment laziness. Then you notice all the empty bottles, and not so empty bottles interspersed with the kitchenware, and pillaring the floor around the sofa. "How long have those cartons of milk and juice been out?" "I don't know. A week?" Well, at least no one has been admitted to the hospital yet. Yet.
I think most landlords are resigned to lack of hygiene, as long as the mothers come to clean up just before the contract ends in June. It must not be one of the virtues they are looking for in the students they rent to. The main virtue is probably respect for property and peace. As long as the students don't throw the sofa out the window, take apart the refrigerator, or throw parties with the decibels of a rock concert, the owners are happy.
The mothers whose lot it will be to clean, not so happy.
I assume many students are the same. Different people living in rented apartments. Classes, study, parties, errands. Then there's probably the eternal, "It was your turn today." "No, my turn is on Tuesdays." "But I exchanged with you last Tuesday because Wednesday was impossble." "I don't have a signed contract mentioning that." And so on. In the end, when you walk into a student apartment, the first thing you notice is the smell. You are forced to ask, "When was the last time you took out the trash?" It turns out either the trash has accumulated and attracted consumers, or it has been taken and the smell comes from a hermetically closed (!) refrigerator where a grey, shapeless mass lies on a plate, looking like something no self-respecting starving cat would touch.
The second thing you notice is all the plates, cups, saucers, glasses, bowls, platters, etc. adorning every available surface, sofa included. "When did you last wash the dishes?" "Um, last Monday?" Today is Sunday. You're not sure if it was a blessing or not that the owner of the apartment also supplied kitchenware, on top of what the students brought from home. It seems to foment laziness. Then you notice all the empty bottles, and not so empty bottles interspersed with the kitchenware, and pillaring the floor around the sofa. "How long have those cartons of milk and juice been out?" "I don't know. A week?" Well, at least no one has been admitted to the hospital yet. Yet.
I think most landlords are resigned to lack of hygiene, as long as the mothers come to clean up just before the contract ends in June. It must not be one of the virtues they are looking for in the students they rent to. The main virtue is probably respect for property and peace. As long as the students don't throw the sofa out the window, take apart the refrigerator, or throw parties with the decibels of a rock concert, the owners are happy.
The mothers whose lot it will be to clean, not so happy.
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