If you want to get away from the TV for a while and read a good book that provides an intimate look into the way 90% of how America lives check out Barbara Ehrenreich’s book “Nickel and Dimed, On (Not) Getting By in America“.
I just finished this book and found it to be quite insightful. At first I figured I would be thinking, “yeah, so what? I went through this and worked my way out of low paying jobs.” But then I really paid attention to much of the circumstances she describes and thought about how it impacts me as a real estate agent today and as a real estate investor. Also eye opening is her description of the time she spent working as a housekeeper – I’ve had my home cleaned by a professional company for years and now I understand why I have had questions about levels of cleanliness afterward for so long. A lot of the “cleaning” is not really cleaning as I would do it and how I’ve been taught to make a home clean. Believe me, it’s changed my view on the subject.
I’d recently dropped one of my 2x a month cleanings and I’m kind of happy about it because the times I’ll be cleaning instead I’ll know that the job is getting done better. I’ll still use the service because there are some items that do help such as floor vacuuming and dusting – I have allergies which is why I started using a service to begin with – but the items that need scrubbing will likely come back to me now, and that’s okay.
