Social Etiquette

I'm sat here at my computer with my morning ritual: coffee, yesterday's paper, good album on (Radiohead's 'OK Computer' today). Yes, I know it's almost noon and I'm not strictly being productive. I will admit that I haven't even showered yet today. For shame.

The problem is it's the first day we have our cleaner in, and she's been here for almost three hours already. I'm not used to having a cleaner, never having had one before, so I don't know what the etiquette is for such matters. Is it okay for me to walk out there from my room to the shower in my dressing gown? Do I avoid eye-contact, make pleasantries, talk about the weather while I stand there all-too aware that I am naked save for a flimsy flannel gown covering my dignity? It's a nightmare. I thought I'd wait until she's gone, but I'm bursting for the loo now (coffee, it seems, was a terrible mistake). By now I've convinced myself she'll be cleaning the bathrooms. What happens if I go in there clutching my towel and shampoo and the poor woman's on her knees scrubbing the mildew off the bath? It's a minefield of potential social embarrassment for the both of us.

A hundred years ago this would have been easy, she would have been staff and I would have been comfortable enough in my own house to mistreat her accordingly and get on with my day, expecting her to stand still in a corner waiting for me to go out of sight before carrying on with her duties. But I can't shake the feeling that she has more social status than me, not only because of her senior years but also because she is in employment and I am not. She is out there in my bathroom contributing to society and I am sat in here blogging and staring at my to-do list.

It's certainly made me realise how unemployment affects your self-esteem. I'm university educated, from a middle-class background, sat in my room afraid of offending a cleaner. I can see the disapproving stares of my ancestors permeating through the decades. Forgive me if I sound pompous, but I should feel like her equal, not embarrassed at the possibility of running into her and feeling like a lazy benefit scrounging couch potato. It seems status, even if it is self imposed, now depends on how hard you work rather than how educated you are.

So, legs crossed, I'll wait until she's gone.