In praise of the office cleaner

Once a week the cheery disposition of Beryl brightens up our workplace.

Armed with her bucket of dusters, cloths and cleaning potions and sprays she swiftly sets about cleaning our offices. Once the marigolds and facemask are on, it is the kitchen area and toilet facilities are next on her hit list. She does what she does with her flash, bleach, and floor mop (I was lying about the facemask) attending to the particular needs of each room, often dealing with unmentionables which I would have thought could have been properly disposed of by the ‘donor’.

The kitchen fridge is another focal point, where she will fastidiously check sell by dates on the jars, tins and sandwich fillings along with the festering meat slices and soggy salads. with the shelves and drawers washed and dried she turns her attention to the ofice areas.

It is here she meets one of her first proper challenges of her working day. It would appear the overflowing bins and walls supported by the piled up product packaging have been reliant on her attendance that day. As she progresses through the building, some rooms are actually barred from her prgoress. Other rooms will have their appearance and odour transformed.

The job done after a few hours she has time for a short chat before moving to her next port of call.

Hers is not a glamourous job but essential. Without her and those staff members who do take pride in our building, hygiene and well being we would be in a right mess – literally. Without those like Beryl who are willing to get stuck in and help create order out of the chaos we would be stuck. It’s such a shame that such workers are often underpaid, overlooked, dispised or undervalued.

If you are after doing a worthwhile job, maybe it’s worth thinking about being a cleaner.