V.
All the maid has to do is tell me that our dust pan is broken.
"Nasira? Paano?" Heaps of trash covered the floor. I decided to move the spilling garbage from the bins to the trash bags.
The maid showed me the poor thing to prove her point. It's edges were torn. It's scooping capacity, reduced.
The state of the dust pan didn't surprise me at all. I have seen it around the house for a decade and nobody thought of replacing it.
They say it can still be used.
However, the cleaning object's neglected state reflects how things are at home. The hampers are shredded, bars of soap rest on puddles. The helpers have grown used to such waste. Nobody pays attention. The matriarch keeps forgetting what needs to be replaced. The married couple doesn't care.
So when I was told about the trash pan, I gave my word and said that it will be replaced the next day. After all, the matriarch has somehow acknowledged (despite my wicked habit of giving away and throwing stuff that are no longer needed) the part I play in keeping the house in order.
And so I bought a new pan at Uni-Top for 85 pesos, and replaced the wire and cotton mesh hampers with plastic ones from the same department store. Not yet satisfied with my home improvement itch, I went to Dapitan Arcade that afternoon to procure ceramic soap dishes and a soap pump for less than 2 hundred.
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| Hampers |
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| Soap Dish |
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| Dust Pans |
Much is still needed to make the home improvement a worthwhile pursuit. Trash sorting is still disorganized, and the hoarders must be kept in-check before their unneeded stuff overruns the corridors.
To make the change permanent, and hopefully, be passed on to the next lords of the house, no longer can I stay idle while we let the kasambahays do all the back-breaking work.
"Ako na maghuhugas ng mga pinagkainan." It must have been music to their ears to hear those words for the first time.
I have this undying belief that I am an excellent home maker. While still unproven, I will start breaking that myth, and put my skills to good use.