Part Ten - Chores Continued

When the other two joined us, we all followed the Helper through the dining room and into a hall filled with cupboards. On we went toward the big common room, known as the lounge. But before we got there, she opened up a secret to us: an old elevator in a little nook outside the only bathroom on this floor. She opened the heavy metal door and stepped into the crowded darkness. Out came brooms, dust pans, buckets, gloves, and spray-bottles with homemade labels. No longer used for transportation, the elevator now operated as a cleaning closet.

The ongoing washing, wiping, disinfecting and scrubbing, which kept this place presentable to the constant flow of persons, were clearly spelled out in a red three-ring binder. It lay open before us as our Helper doled out work. My task was the lounge:

dust it,
move what furniture you can and
fold up the rugs before you sweep and mop,
wash the windows,
clean up the little sink area where lounging students leave dirty tea cups and such,
tidy the piles
and the doilies.

Hardy, potted plants lined the edges of the room where they could soak up sunshine.

Antique furniture, too heavy to move, stood as monuments here and there. 



The piano in the corner was sprinkled with Bach and Jewel. 

 

The tall, mismatched bookshelves holding hymnals and Douglas Coupland, Anna Karenina and Rick Steve's Europe through the Back Door aroused my imagination.

What kind of place was this?

What might the next 10 weeks hold?

I reached for a rag.

...