currian faedreamer

“They’re not smarter or faster they’re buying up others’ lifetimes to do their chores”

I see this reaction a lot, and I gotta say, it always makes me a little sad. Whenever the conversation of exploitation of labor comes up, inevitably someone finds themselves struggling with the guilt of “It is so important to me not to contribute to exploitation but I cannot do this thing myself and need someone else to do it for me, so how do I even approach that?”

Exploitation isn’t in the hiring of a service worker. Exploitation is in the respect you show them for their ability to perform the service you need from them.

I have been on a cleaning service staff before, and also been someone who hired a cleaning service, and I can tell you for sure that a lot of cleaning crews (especially worker owned ones) absolutely LOVE their clients and are genuinely happy to be able to make their lives better. The clients they don’t like? Those are the ones who disrespect the workers.

When I was involved with a cleaning service, we had everything from little old ladies living alone to McMasions with five cars as clients, and I can assure you that whenever there was someone who clearly hired us because they were overwhelmed or unable to keep their space clean, those were the households where you put a little more elbow grease in and did a deep clean even when it wasn’t paid for, because you could see how much these people were trying and struggling, and they were always so kind and generous and often embarrassed when talking to you about the job.

I only hired a service a couple if times in my life, but whenever I did, I worked with the same people as often as I could, tipped as well as I could afford, and tried to be the kind of client I would want to have, and that’s how I often ended up with my baseboards cleaned too, or my fridge scrubbed and organized or a restorative clean done in a high use room even when that wasn’t what I had scheduled or paid for.

I’ve heard the same thing from all manner of service workers over the years. Many of us like our jobs! We enjoy the work. It’s the customers that can do a number on you.

They’ve gotta eat too.

You are putting money in their pocket. That is not a bad thing.

Listen, let me tell you, okay?

Shortly before I got laid off, I went for a pedicure at my favorite place for the first time in over two years. I’d decided to switch places because it’s a 30-mile-round-trip drive and I wanted something closer to home, but I’d been deeply disappointed by local options, so back to my original spa I went.

Over two years.

I WALKED IN THE DOOR AND THE OWNER GREETED ME BY NAME.

This is a busy place. She sees several hundred people a week.

I didn’t ask, but I’m pretty sure I know why she remembers me, and do you know what I think it is?

1) I’m polite

2) I tip well

3) on the occasions when I’ve seen someone in there decide to get racist over most of the staff being Vietnamese, I give them hell because I know the staff can’t and also I’m white so, sadly, they’re more likely to actually be embarrassed if I do it.

Am I exploiting my pedicure tech? I guess that depends on your definition of exploitation. I have terrible feet (thanks, family) and I appreciate the work of someone trained to deal with the calluses from my weird gait and the toenail that likes to grow into my foot. I make sure they know I appreciate it, both verbally and financially. Is that exploitation?

.

also like. if you’re paying the cleaning service enough to cover a decent wage for the cleaning staff’s time plus a share of the cleaning supplies and admin staff pay and whatnot (which you probably are) and you’re treating the cleaning staff like people? it is still possible to likely that the cleaning staff are being exploited. by the cleaning service.

that’s not on you. that’s on whoever is pocketing the profits that should’ve been part of the cost of labor, or pocketing the profits that should’ve been part of the cost of health and safety measures, or.

anyway write your legislators about making minimum wage a living wage with annual cost-of-living increases, and about stronger labor protections, with enough higher fines for noncompliance that paying the fines will cost employers more than it’ll cost employers to pay and protect its staff properly

『 standing tall and standing strong i have found where i belong 』

Hugging? Cuddling? Spending time together

on the other hand...

you see, any work of fiction is either committed to the bit or it's not. the worst thing a piece of media can be is ashamed of its own premise, of the genre it in habits, of the tropes and aesthetics we expect from it. to be committed to the bit does not inherently make it good, but it makes it more worthy of respect than those which are not.

also, that's not to say that a story cannot parody or criticize the genre it inhabits or mimics. we can discuss the bit, we can deconstruct the bit, we can ask ourselves whether or not it's a good bit, but to commit to it first will strengthen these discussions, not detract from them. commitment to the bit is, after all, the first step to genuine sincerity. and sincerity will exalt and elevate parody such that it can stand on its own feet.

commitment to the bit turns melodrama into camp, elevates parody to biting commentary, and allows cringe to open up into a resonant, if unpolished, expression of true emotion.

indian residential school survivors society (BC)

toronto indigenous harm reduction (ON)

native women's resource centre of toronto (ON)

water first (nationwide)

indspire (nationwide)

miskanawah (AB)

ma mawi wi chi itata centre (MB)

manitoba indigenous cultural education centre (MB)

native women's shelter of montreal (QC)

native friendship centre of montreal (QC)

first light (NL)