Edith is the school cleaner, but the pupils don’t pay much attention to her. However, everything changes when she suddenly has to take some time off. The children come to realise what a huge difference a clean school makes and how crucial the job of a cleaner is. In addition to everything they are taught in class, the pupils learn that every occupation should be valued.
Edith carried a heavy bucket full of soapy water up the stairs to the fourth floor. It must have been the hundredth time that day. Some of the pupils had stopped changing out of their outdoor boots for some mysterious reason. And now, during this period between winter and spring — when the streets are wet and muddy, and salt and grit cover the pavement — it’s practically impossible to keep the corridors clean and dry. For several months now, Edith’s work has seemed endless.
Just now a boy shouted: “Watch out!” and Edith was barely able to duck out of the way and avoid being knocked-down by a sprinting Year-7 pupil. It wouldn’t be the first time either. She sighed and quickly stepped aside to let him fly past.
After Edith had finished wiping-down the corridors, she set-about cleaning the classrooms. As always, she found sheets of paper spread across the floor, apple peels hidden in the desks, chewing gum stuck to the bottom of the chairs, and a dirty blackboard sponge sucking up water in the sink.
Still, she liked her job as a cleaner, although she was aware that some of the children looked down on her or just found her invisible. That made her uncomfortable at first, but she decided to ignore it. Over her lifetime she had had various occupations, from being a salesperson in a clothing store, to working in an office, to being a hotel receptionist and an assistant in a veterinary clinic. In fact, she didn’t need to work at all anymore, but she had become bored sitting at home. In her job as a cleaner she could think or sing while she worked, and at least she got a little exercise.
But it was Friday…
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