Other People's Dirt: A Housecleaner's Curious Adventures

by Louise Rafkin | Biographies & Memoirs |
ISBN: 1565121627 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingghirwing of Honolulu, Hawaii USA on 9/5/2009
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6 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingghirwing from Honolulu, Hawaii USA on Saturday, September 5, 2009
A professional housecleaner's look into the industry of cleaning up after others. Interesting read.

I was irritated that the font used seems to substitute a capital I for the number 1. Also found it distracting how the author was scrupulously non-gender-specific when writing about her personal relationships. Funny how "my lover and I had just broken up" calls more attention to itself than "my girlfriend and I had just broken up."

Reserved for Bkind2books. Mailed 6/6/10.

Journal Entry 2 by wingBkind2bookswing at Clarksville, Tennessee USA on Thursday, June 10, 2010
Looking forward to reading this - thank you so much, ghir!

Journal Entry 3 by wingBkind2bookswing at Clarksville, Tennessee USA on Thursday, July 22, 2010
An interesting look at housecleaning - I found the sections on naked cleaners (who knew?!?) and crime scene cleaners to be fascinating. I did not like the font used for the numerals either - what's the problem with making a 1 look like a 1?

I read Nickel & Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich earlier this year and this author seemed to have a similar experience with Merry Maids. Makes you wonder who thinks slave wages are an improvement - $5 an hour is a joke for the back-breaking labor these women put in.

Thank you for this RABCK, ghir.

Journal Entry 4 by wingBkind2bookswing at Clarksville, Tennessee USA on Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (8/31/2010 UTC) at Clarksville, Tennessee USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to eponine38 as part of my 400 books registered RABCK

Journal Entry 5 by wingeponine38wing at Winchester, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Thank you so much for the RABCK, Bkind2books! I'm going to start reading this soon. Looks like fun!

Journal Entry 6 by wingeponine38wing at Winchester, Massachusetts USA on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
I enjoyed this book very much, although it's unanimous (so far, anyway!) about the annoying font. Like Bkind2books, I was quite intrigued by the naked cleaners. I'd discovered the existence of crime scene cleaners a few years ago when I drove several miles behind a van sporting the name "Crime Scene Cleanup" along with its web address. At the first opportunity I went to the site, thinking it was some kind of macabre joke. I'd never thought of the fact that SOMEBODY has to do that kind of thing. I told my coworkers the next day and they didn't believe it at first either. But enough of that... my favorite part of the book was at the end when the author goes to Japan to clean toilets as a path to enlightenment.


2011 Convention

DEAR FINDER,

Welcome to BookCrossing!

Please make a journal entry so we know this book has found a new home.You don't need to join BookCrossing and you can remain completely anonymous. However, we encourage you to join so that you can follow this book's future travels. (You’ll receive an email anytime someone makes a journal entry). It's fun, free, and confidential. If you decide to join, consider listing eponine38 as referring you.

Take your time reading the book, and after you finish, please make another journal entry to record your thoughts about it. This book is now yours, and you can keep it if you choose, though we would love for you to share it. If you pass it along, please make a release note to let others know where you left it “in the wild”, or a journal entry if you gave/sent it to a known person.

I hope you enjoy the book!

Journal Entry 8 by wing6of8wing at Silver Spring, Maryland USA on Friday, April 15, 2011
Wow, eponine38 -- thanks for sharing! It has been lovely to get to know you at the convention -- looking forward to enjoying this book from my wishlist even more because it came from you!

Journal Entry 9 by wing6of8wing at Silver Spring, Maryland USA on Monday, May 9, 2011
This was a lot of fun to read while stuck on a long train ride or two, although I am definitely not a neat freak like the author. (Definitely recognized myself in her discussion of Messies Anonymous!) A nice look at the world of housecleaners, the way the rich and famous differ from us (mostly in common courtesy!), and the glimpses of cleaning in other contexts and other cultures.

I didn't notice the font issue that others mentioned, but I did have flashbacks to Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickled and Dimed when reading about Merry Maids. Just as in that expose, the franchise is run by a man who is gung ho about cleaning, but never does any of the work, and seems to devise special projects that must be completed by his employees for which they are not paid. Something tells me this is a corporate pattern, rather than a coincidence.

Journal Entry 10 by wing6of8wing at Silver Spring, Maryland USA on Wednesday, May 11, 2011
I will be taking an adventurous road trip this weekend, covering West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York states. I plan to release quite a few books on this trip, including this one. If not found and journalled by the time I return, I will make release notes with specific details then.

Journal Entry 11 by wing6of8wing at -- Mail or by hand - rings, RABCK, meetings, District of Columbia USA on Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Released 12 yrs ago (6/11/2011 UTC) at -- Mail or by hand - rings, RABCK, meetings, District of Columbia USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Taking this along to the BC in DC meet-up on Saturday at our newest OBCZ in Dupont Circle. If no one at the meet-up wants it, I will leave it on the shelf.

Welcome to Book Crossing -- this book is now yours to read, retain, release, or any combination thereof which suits your fancy. Books registered with Book Crossing are tracked by those who have read them before to see where they will go and who they will meet on their journeys. People who participate in the Book Crossing community often establish friendships and trade books or comments on books and just relish a relationship with other readers across the globe.

You are welcome (and encouraged) to create a journal entry on the book, particularly when passing it on to a specific someone or releasing in the wild. You don't have to read the book to create a journal entry nor do you have to feel obligated to write only positive things. All those who have had their hands on the book before you would be excited to read any journal entry you choose to make.

You can remain anonymous or join Book Crossing, where you are known to others by the screen name of your choice and no personal information is revealed. If you join, you can receive e-mail updates about all the places this book travels to in the future. (I would love it if you listed me, 6of8, as your referring member).

Sharing books in this fashion is just another way of spreading good karma across the world. Whatever you choose to do, enjoy the book!

Journal Entry 12 by ResQgeek at Alexandria, Virginia USA on Saturday, June 11, 2011
I picked this up at today's BC-in-DC get together. Looks interesting.

Journal Entry 13 by ResQgeek at Alexandria, Virginia USA on Thursday, May 10, 2012
When Louise Rafkin was a child, she wanted to be a spy. Instead, she grew up to become a housecleaner, which allows her to snoop into the lives of other people, without the risks that come with espionage. Like most people, Rafkin didn’t set out to make a career of cleaning, but found it to be a quick and easy way to make money, and almost before she knew what had happened, it had become a career.

This book is partially a memoir of her experiences as a cleaner, and partially an exploration of the world of cleaning. Not only does she dish the dirt about her own work and the lives of those for whom she cleans, but she also investigates the wider (and sometimes weirder) industry that works to make the world more tidy. From the sweatshop conditions of a corporate cleaning franchise to a Japanese cult that cleans as a religious practice, Rafkin travels far and wide to see how other people take on the job of cleaning up after others. She also checks out the strange niche of nude cleaning and investigates those who clean up crime scenes.

The result is a fascinating glimpse at what the world looks like to those whose job it is to clean up after the rest of us. The stories here are conveyed with wit and humor, and actually make for a compelling read.

Journal Entry 14 by ResQgeek at Leesburg, Virginia USA on Saturday, June 16, 2012

Released 11 yrs ago (6/16/2012 UTC) at Leesburg, Virginia USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

A number of the members of BC-in-DC are meeting at Chick-Fil-A in Leesburg to leave kid's books at the new OBCZ there. I'm also bringing this book along to share with the others.

Journal Entry 15 by florafloraflora at Leesburg, Virginia USA on Sunday, June 17, 2012
Picked up at today's meetup in Leesburg. Looking forward to reading this. Thanks, ResQgeek!

Journal Entry 16 by florafloraflora at Leesburg, Virginia USA on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
This has been my breakfast-table book for the past few weeks. I am a recovering Messie, but I recognize the satisfaction the author gets from cleaning. I only don't know if I would be ethical enough not to take advantage of my position inside some of the more obnoxious clients' houses.

Journal Entry 17 by florafloraflora at Laundry 2000, Hoosick Rd. in Troy, New York USA on Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Released 11 yrs ago (1/22/2013 UTC) at Laundry 2000, Hoosick Rd. in Troy, New York USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Left near the magazines at the front. When I walked by a few minutes later it was already gone. Hope it's made a friend.

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