What Cleaning Toilets for 3 Months Taught Me About Work
People in less-skilled roles deal with the most sh*t.
I laugh at how easy my life has become. I’m sitting on my bed during lunch, typing away at this story.
It hasn’t always been like this. After graduating, I worked in a prison and quickly realised I was out of my depth. I quit after four months to start a business, failed that, and ended up cleaning toilets as a temporary worker.
A typical cleaning day looked like this. I’d wake up at 3:30 am, pick up my supervisor, and get to work before five. We’d then locate equipment, dash around the building and get our jobs done.
After leaving that building, we’d move onto the next, and repeat the process three or four times a day.
It was the toughest job I’ve had.
Some of the building managers were nice. Others, a pain in the arse. One shining example was a boutique accountancy that called me in the evening because I missed some dust on a windowsill.
F*ck me.
The three months were depressing as hell. I was constantly tired and the days were mind-numbing. The only redeeming feature was the people I worked with — or at least some of them.
