Lockout

You know you've been in the cleaning business long enough when you consistently get told things at the last minute, such as "Can you come back later? We're still having a party now" or "We changed all the locks without telling you". And that's if they even want to tell you...

Hand washing

A friendly reminder that washing your hands is never a bad idea... even if it means you have to go back and wash your hands again about 70% of the time.

Swept under the rug

Face it, can you really get out this kind of situation in one piece? Wait for someone to provide you with essential equipment and you're labelled as lazy and without initiative. Go and obtain your own equipment and people say you don't trust people to deliver on time and aren't a "team player".

But if you continue doing your job anyway without ever bringing up the fact that you're literally cleaning with a broom without a head, then... nobody cares enough to check up on you.

The Cleaner's Paradox

Surely, I can't be the only one who's noticed a smudge on a plate or bowl, tried to rub it off with a tissue and only ended up either spreading said smudge or just getting tissue bits everywhere. So lesson learned: Don't clean what you don't have to touch. Besides, someone else can clean it up, right?

Overtime

The worst part is turning up to the premises at the agreed time, only to find that the very people who called you in to clean up have decided to have an after-party of sorts. And then you're left to stand outside in the dark until they get tired and finally decide to go home. Yep, living the dream right there...

Burden of the Helpful

Based on all those times when I'm washing a single plate or bowl, and before I know it, I'm having to wash someone else's used pots, pans and seven other unusually greasy utensils. I suppose using a dishwasher would solve that issue, though people would still just have me hand wash their stuff anyway.

Cleaning is fun!

Interestingly enough, there's a slew of surprisingly fun cleaning-based video games, such as Viscera Cleanup Detail and PowerWash Simulator, to name a couple. Yet, cleaning up in reality is nowhere close to being that fun. If we were living in a simulation, clearly somebody isn't doing their job correctly...