out of the closet

[smibbo]

I am a housekeeper.

I love keeping house. It is better than being a manager (because there's no snotty or grumpy customers that I'm not allowed to say "if you don't like it, you know what you can do" to) It is better than being a beautician (because there's no noxious chemicals to inhale and no nasty foot fungus to look at) It is better than being a chef (because I am never told what I have to make and how fast to make it) It is better than being a baker (because I don't have to get up at 3am) It is better than being a shooter girl (because I don't have to be nice to slimey men all night when I'd rather being run over by fire ants naked covered in tar than talk to those guys) It is better than being a waitress (because I can easily say "Get it yourself!" and that's a good thing) It is better than being a photographer's assistant (because I don't have to appease some egomaniacal teenager with her underarm pads) It is better than working in an office (Because there's no one above me telling me what to wear and when to stop eating lunch but who still can't figure out how to put together a powerpoint presentation without calling me in a panic) It is better than working as an assistant electrician (because I don't have to crawl up a ladder, stick my head in a spider-webbed space and drill a hole into a piece of metal while getting shrapnel all over my face) It is better than working retail (because I don't have to worry about being accused of stealing when someone forgets to make a deposit in the bank) It is better than painting T-shirts (because my ego is not tied up in whether or not someone buys my stuff) It is better than cleaning houses (because no one tells me I took too long to clean too much)

I am a housekeeper of my own family. Yes, I get paid. Yes, I have job satisfaction. Yes, I am important. Yes, I can expect raises and promotions. What I think and want is part of the overall equation of how this place is run. My opinion matters, my ideas are implemented and my directions followed. I am in charge of the most important aspect of my life - my family - and no one expects me to put that aside.

Yeah, okay, sometimes I bitch because I'm the only person who ever vacuums the damned hallway. Sometimes it annoys me that the dishes are never clean for more than an hour. Occasionally I'm irked by the sheer volume of laundrey that no one else will put away. There are times when I think if I have to clean the cat box one more time I will surely start pummeling people. There have been a few days when I'm sure if I try to balance the accounts one more tiem and get it wrong I will start using a mattress instead.

Overall though, I love my job. This is the best I have felt in years.

And I owe it all to the love of my life.

Thank you, babe.