Come look! It's a beautiful sunset, Mama!

Words from my 5 year old each night that sun goes down. Both my boys absolutely love to tell me that a beautiful sunset is gleaming through our front windows. It used to be a feeble attempt at getting me outside for a ride in our man van, but these days it is genuine "make mama happy" as the reason for shouting it through the house.

Work was only a continuation of yesterday's meeting. I hate to talk work here, but it's my journal, and my job requires a far greater percentage of my waking (and nightmare) hours.

Feeling a bit unresolved, I moved on and had a generally joyful day. That is until my supervisor came for a "fact finding mission." He wanted to know who had put the signs (checklists) in the bathrooms.

Here's some background: I've worked in my building for more than 10 years combined. In the last 3 years, the custodial staff have felt understaffed and under appreciated (like-wise for many departments). Well they've stopped cleaning in some cases, and stopped cleaning the bathrooms in my building completely. They don't sweep, mop, sanitize, wipe or replace needed things like toilet paper, soap, paper towels or toilet covers. We serve the public, and it's completely disgusting. I've tried every avenue possible to get them to clean. Nothing has worked. I've complained. I've sent photos of feces and blood (gross sorry), and was told to lean over and clean it myself. Uh...are you kidding? So when a new staff member was cleaning our bathroom, we asked him to please sweep up the area, as there was dirt, sand, hair, dust and toilet paper all over the floor. His response? "Is that something I'm supposed to do? Should I mop too?"

So I determined that he did not know what was expected of him, and I made him some simple signs....aka...the fact finding mission. I, of course, admitted to making the signs, which were apparently "not taken well" from other management.

I understand the point. That my attempt might have seemed childish or immature, but I support the theory that the gentleman cleaning our bathrooms had no idea what was expected of him, and now he does.

And guess what? Our bathrooms have been reasonably clean since I posted the simple checklist.

So the morale of the story? Who knows. I just know I'm sick of being the Bathroom Tyrant, and I'm sure my signs have been removed (they were nice by the way).

I completely apologize for rambling on about bathrooms and such, but I'm finding each day beyond the comforts of my own office, to be even more insane.

I vow today (hand held on my address book), to not bother with anyone else's responsibilities, to not seek out advancement opportunities within my own institution, and to smile even when I don't want to.

- The End -