βTheyβre not smarter or faster theyβre buying up othersβ lifetimes to do their choresβ
βTheyβre not smarter or faster theyβre buying up othersβ lifetimes to do their choresβ
βTheyβre not smarter or faster theyβre buying up othersβ lifetimes to do their choresβ
[images: series of tweets from @realavocadofact. tweets read,Β βtheyβre not elite theyβre richβ,Β βtheyβre not better theyβre better suppliedβ,Β βtheyβre not smarter or faster theyβre buying up othersβ lifetimes to do their choresβ,Β βthere is nothing wrong with you; youβre doing your best in a game rigged against you, probably not enough people and fruit tell you thatβ]
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 βIt 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?β
Exploitation isnβt 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 donβt 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 wasnβt 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 thatβs 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 wasnβt what I had scheduled or paid for.
Iβve heard the same thing from all manner of service workers over the years. Many of us like our jobs! We enjoy the work. Itβs the customers that can do a number on you.
I think a lot of people are afraid that by needing a service they are inherently exploiting or harming the people who perform that service, and they really arenβt. But it does benefit a capitalist system for us to all be burnt out and overwhelmed because weβre too afraid to hire the help we need. Be upfront and honest with service workers about what you need and why you need it, and treat them with dognity and kindness while they perform your service, and I promise you they will always be happy to answer your call.
HIRING A PROFESSIONAL TO CLEAN YOUR HOUSE ISNβT MORE EXPLOITATIVE THAN GOING TO A DENTIST OR ORDERING A PIZZA
We all fucking depend on each other, itβs about respect and treating one another as fellow humans instead of seeing them as below us
i hired a housekeeper because i can pay her enough money that she can accumulate savings and still pay less than iβd pay some company to pay her $10/hour for the same work.
