Ten years ago while I was a business student I had two part-time jobs. I was a waitress at an Indonesian restaurant and I was also working with the elderly. Both jobs were really fun to do. Many days I skipped classes because I can learn the best by reading the books instead of listening to the lecturers. My chores when working with the elderly were mostly cleaning their house but also have a conversation with them while drinking a cup of tea and a biscuit :-).

Every week I could call the office and let them know how often I want to work the next week. If I don't want to work for a week long that would also be OK. So that job was really flexible. In one day I could have either 1 or 2 addresses and each house I would work 3 hours.So that would be from 9-12 AM and/or 1- 4 PM. I would usually go with my bicycle. I remember I bought a second hand bicycle from a man who fixes old bicycles from the streets. My bicycle existed of many different parts from different bicycles, but it really cycled amazing! I only had to pay 30 euros. I remember it looked a bit like this but more vintage :-D

Flower skirt

I remember my first address, it was in Amsterdam Central. She was a very sweet old lady. She told me that I just need to do a few things. She showed me a skirt with many small flowers that she really wanted to wear but she doesn't know anymore how her sewing machine worked. When I told her I can sew, she was jumping for joy! She asked me if I could sew it for her, so I did it for her. I was very happy to see her smiling face and when she was wearing the skirt and posed for me :-D. She told me that she can't wait until I am coming again and that I would sew something else for her again. I told this nice story when the office called me for another address. I realised later that I should not do that. Apparently they don't want the elderly to have a sort of connection with the house cleaners because most house cleaners switch many times from one to another address. So this sweet old lady I never saw again.

Paralysed

Once I had to clean the house of a quite young couple, they were not that old, maybe in their late 50's. It was really terrible for me to see that the woman who was not able to do anything and the husband was changing her diaper and showered her. What a lovely husband. I could see in his eyes that he was very exhausted. I could see in her eyes that she felt sort of embarrassed and saw her crying couple of times. I saw her sadness, that she felt guilty towards her husband. I asked the man what he wanted me to do, because I always have to ask what they want. He said that I just have to look around and clean what I can clean. He was just too busy taking care of his wife. I had to shed some tears because this I never saw in real life. Usually in movies only. I saw their bedroom full of diapers, and a mountain of medicines in boxes. I cleaned their house couple of times. The last time I had to go to their house again, the office called me to say that I had to go another address. When I asked the office why, she said that the woman passed away. That was very shocking news for me.

Naked

My next address was at a senior apartment. It had many wings so I was first kinda lost. Soon I found the way and ringed. I wondered why she didn't open the door. I ringed and ringed again. I called the office. They said she should be home. After 10 minutes she opened the door. She was in her wheelchair, naked and crying. I was trying to calm her down and asked her if there is something wrong while wondering why she was naked. She was still crying telling me that she wanted to dress herself but couldn't. I said that it's ok and helped her dressing. She was happy I was there. She told me that she couldn't go to the bathroom the whole time and she had to pee in a bucket. I saw the bucket, it was actually a trash bin that she used for peeing as well. She asked me if I could clean it for her. I cleaned it for her and she was crying again saying that her children don't want to visit her anymore. So I felt very sad for her of course. I cleaned her bedroom and bathroom and she was getting a little bit happier. We talked and she held my hands saying that she hoped I would come again. Well, I never saw her again.

Grieving man

My next client was a man who was grieving for the loss of his wife. I did not know how to deal with that situation. In general I don't know how to deal with death. He also had a cute little dog, a Dachshund that followed me all the time, every where. Such a cute dog, but I he was standing in the way, because I couldn't do my work. The man came to me and said that the dog likes women just like the owner. I felt a bit uncomfortable but also a bit sad because he was grieving. The man was like most other people somewhere in his 70's or early 80's. He looked still good for his age and was able to walk straight. I saw some old vintage black and white pictures of him and his wife. I saw how good looking he was when he was a young men. It was amazing to see that his eyes were deep blue for his age. Shortly before I went home he said how handy my hands were and held my hands. It was an awkward situation but I knew that he wouldn't do anything to me. He was just grieving and wanted to have a woman next to him. I smiled at him and said that I really had to go.

Down syndrome

My next client was a woman with Down syndrome, at least, that's what I was thinking The office did not tell me this. I was a bit scared when she opened the door because she was making unusual noises. I thought she would harm me, but she did not. As soon I entered her house I was in shock! I couldn't see the floor. Her entire house was full of dolls and toys. She also had 2 cats that were caged. I think it is for the safety of the cats. I think every now and then somebody will come to see her and check the situation. But it was unbelievable how many dolls, toys and puppets she had. I think she was in her 50's. Even the kitchen was full of toys, dolls and puppets. I just cleaned where ever I could, but it was difficult with her huge collection. When I was cleaning the bathroom I even saw her other collection, a collection of dried cat poop. First I thought it was from plastic, but once I touched it, it felt real and it was dusty.

Memory loss

My next address was a house of a woman who suffered from short memory loss, I am not sure if it is called Amnesia. Again, the office did not warn me about. I was actually not even allowed to work for her because I don't have any experience working for people like her. Somebody from the office told me that afterwards. So when I ringed the door she opened and yelled at me: " Stay away from me! I am going to call the police!" Suddenly the daughter came and calmed her down, telling her mother that the office called and that somebody would come to help cleaning. Her mother said: Oh yes, I remember now. She was suddenly very polite and asked me if I wanted to have a cup of tea. I said thank you, that's very kind of you. One hour past, I was vacuuming the floor and suddenly she yelled at me again saying she is going to call the police. OMG, you have no idea how I felt. I was scared! Luckily her daughter was there. Otherwise I would not enter her house. She was still young, I believe in her early 60's.

Dirty cups

I had to clean the house of an old couple. They were so sweet together. The man couldn't communicate very well as he had this pipe/tube through his throat. Maybe he had Laryngeal cancer? I am not a doctor so I am not sure. But they seem very happy together and as usual offered me tea and biscuit. So the lady served me tea. When I wanted to drink it I saw the cup was dirty. I tried as polite as possible to say that the cup was dirty. She apologised and said: " What was I thinking!". So she gave me another cup, but that cup was dirty too. I didn't want to be rude, so I threw the tea quickly away in one of her plants at the moment she looked away.

Well, I have more stories to tell you about my job in the past as a house cleaner for the elderly, but I am afraid it would be endless. It was a nice experience to work with older people and to see how they lived. Mostly were happy I helped them. I also learned a lot from them, knowing what products are the best for cleaning, hearing their stories of the Dutch Hunger Winter, the liters tea I drunk and the countless biscuits I ate. I would like to know how they are doing now, but probably they don't live anymore.

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