I said “regular,” because I’m not asking specifically about a cleaning service where different people come every time. Although I’d be interested in comments on that situation, too.
I asked my house cleaner Mary Lou to stay away starting in mid-March. I’m thinking of asking her to come back in June. I’ve been paying her all along, and I could continue to do that, but I’m not sure I need her to keep away. I believe we’re going to be in CV Mode for a long time, maybe at some level for a couple of years. So while I don’t believe that we will ever return to what life was before three months ago, now that I’ve gone (masked) to get my hair done and to get a pedicure, I feel okay having Mary Lou come back with precautions.
It was always our practice in the 9-ish years that she’s been coming every other week to greet each other (no hugs anymore ) and then I’d leave so I didn’t get in her way and so she could play her preferred radio station as loud as she wanted to. Back before I retired, if I had a project, I’d hole up in my office with the doors shut and leave her alone. Later, I’d go do my Mall walk or (while she lived) go visit my mother in the nursing home.
Like me, Mary Lou lives alone. I know she has other clients, but I don’t know how many of them she’s still working with, whether they’ve let her go permanently, temporarily, or whatever. She’s an avid churchgoer, but her church went online back when most churches did. If they’re going to start meeting in person again (even with masks/distancing), that might make me uneasy–one more place for her to pick up the virus. (Full disclosure: back before her church went online she said, “We’re not worried–God will protect us,” which totally freaked me out! :eek: Fortunately the pastor used his God-given brains and common sense and shut them down.)
How are others handling this situation or planning to handle it in the near or distant future?
We were talking about this just this morning. I told my wife to bring our house cleaner back. If this thing is as contagious as they say, we’re all going to get exposed sooner or later. If it’s not, then a house cleaner isn’t going to infect us by cleaning for a few hours.
I never stopped having Mary come in. She cleans the house, dishes, does laundry and folds and puts it away. She also runs errands for me and does some light gardening. Couldn’t imagine functioning without her help.
My gf is still working from home, and I’ve been helping a little with vacuuming and the like, so we have not brought back our weekly house cleaner. My gf does not want someone (other than me) in the house while she is working.
My gf may be working from home for the rest of her career though, so we eventually have to deal with this.
I have. I skipped for six weeks but relented. I suspect I’ve already had C-19 and mine is one of the only houses she cleans so I want her to have the business. I did pay her to not come for those six weeks. We distance and mask when she’s here and she uses a boatload of disinfectant and bleach everywhere (it’s almost intolerable after; I open all my windows).
I have mine back. I really think it’s more about total risk profile than any one thing: I am letting my cleaners be one of the things I am doing, but I try to keep a list of all my potential contacts so that I don’t keep adding things.
Terminology nitpick: I don’t see that as paying someone *not *to come. I see that as paid leave, which many people who are not self-employed/freelancers have as a benefit of their job.
I haven’t had him back. In fact, I just paid him for another month. He never comes when I am there (still have to actually go to work) but he does sometimes bring his wife. I will reassess in June. I want to see infections decreasing in this state first. Unfortunately, the house is a mess since I don’t do nearly as good a job of cleaning.
We generally have a service clean our apartment every Tuesday. Sarah (“The Consummate Professional”) and Kristen came over March 24, then the company shut down until two weeks ago. Rose and Laura showed up May 5, then Abby and Kristen last week. We’ve had “regulars” in the past, but lost them for various reasons. I would have been open to paying a “retainer” for Alaina had she stayed with the service, as I considered her a friend by the time she quit, but I don’t know if her employer would have allowed that.
I never stopped having my person come. I did give her a raise; I started thinking of it as “combat pay,” sort of. Then I realized she had been cleaning for me for four years without a raise (and she was working for a great deal less than the previous cleaners I had) so I am now thinking of it as a badly overdue raise. She cleans for me and for my next-door neighbor, and we offered that she could stay home and we’d pay her, and she said she’d rather work. We decided we would rather have clean houses, so…we usually leave when she is here anyway so hopefully she doesn’t feel at risk being here. I certainly don’t feel at risk having her here. I agree with Manda Jo about total risk.
Unsolicited opinion (but I just watched three episodes of Perry Mason in a row ): it seems to me that’s for her to duke out with her employer not for you to pre-emptively decide on her behalf. Your witness, counselor. (I’m up to episodes from 1960 now. Gotta love the cars!)
No opinion on the house cleaner discussion as the only house cleaner in my world is typing this. But I did have to giggle when I saw you’re watching old Perry Mason episodes. We are on the same kick. They’re so wonderfully awful!
BTW, when you get to Episode 27 of Season 7, “The Case of the Careless Kidnapper”, (1963-64), I think the definitive answer is there as to whether there is a smouldering romance between Perry Mason and Della Street.
We’re thinking about it; so far, we’ve kept the place clean, and it’s been an opportunity to teach our children how to actually do all that stuff (for some reason, they LOVE scrubbing toilet bowls). But personally, I’m sick of sweeping and mopping and wrangling the children while they clean the toilets and sinks.
Yes, but with precautions: said cleaner is also a friend of many years, long before she started working for us, so we would normally spend a few minutes chatting and give her lifts to and from the rail station. No more: we lock ourselves down in rooms she doesn’t go into, and let her do her thing. The cats already know to hide from her in the Safe Room, since they associate her with vacuums and sprays and other kinds of terror.
We did offer to keep paying her without having her come in, but she refused, multiple times, and we know for a fact that a lot of her clients have ceased having her come for a variety of reasons. We each thought the risks were slight. Also, her husband was super paranoid about this well ahead of the curve, back in February, so I have confidence that they’re being careful.
The last time we had ours was March 7. It is a married couple and I think they do it more for us than for the money. They are an absolutely delightful couple who are regularly employed during weekdays (they come on Saturdays) and turned down my offer to pay them. They don’t just clean; they do minor repairs as well and were really helpful when we moved last summer. They have suggested coming to clean while we go for a walk. I am ready to take them up on it, but my wife is reluctant so far.
I can’t Prime/Netflix/Other Internet Service due to restricted internet access here in the sticks, so I have DirecTV. They offer a channel called Family Entertainment Television (FETV). Their deal is to rerun lots of old programs like Barney Miller, Lassie, Hart to Hart, etc. It’s full of awful ads for Medicare supplement plans, Life Alert – you know, ads targeted at the Geezer Brigade who might be sentimental about programs like Perry Mason. Like me. It’s a pain in the ass, but I just DVR the programs and fast forward through the dumb ads.
What I’ve particularly enjoyed in watching the series as an adult is encountering young versions of popular actors. There are so many! Recently spotted: Leonard Nimoy, Ryan O’Neal, Jerry Van Dyke, Billy Mumy, Robert Redford, Bette Davis, James Coburn and Patricia Barry. It’s a hoot.
ETA: Oh, goodie! You’ll enjoy those later ones, too. Glad you found an option, and it is a better one than mine – no ads!!
) and then I’d leave so I didn’t get in her way and so she could play her preferred radio station as loud as she wanted to. 
Back before I retired, if I had a project, I’d hole up in my office with the doors shut and leave her alone. Later, I’d go do my Mall walk or (while she lived) go visit my mother in the nursing home.
): it seems to me that’s for her to duke out with her employer not for you to pre-emptively decide on her behalf. Your witness, counselor. (I’m up to episodes from 1960 now. Gotta love the cars!)
