Saturday, June 14, 2008

laundry day


It's laundry day for this girl. I do SO much laundry at work, yet I never seem to manage to do my own. It drives me crazy. I sometimes feel like taking a couple items to work each day and sneaking them in with the work laundry just so I can have clean clothes on a regular basis. That, and sometimes I really want to take off the clothes I'm wearing and chuck them in...lol, I haven't got to that point yet!

That's one thing about my job that I find hard though. Included in the crisis worker job is a whole lot of cleaning. Apparently, it's supposed to remove hierarchy, so that everyone is equal and no one is stuck with all the gross jobs. And in some ways it makes sense. Whoever is working in IPDA cleans the cells in IPDA. I can't imagine if I had to call someone each time I needed a cell cleaned when IPDA is full. It would be ridiculous. The person in detox washes all the detox laundry. Makes sense. They see when the basket is full. However, they also wind up washing all the kitchen laundry and laundry from the front. AND they wind up spending forever steralizing dishes. Because everything used in detox has to go through the sterilizer, and only the staff can use it.

So, sometimes I feel like a maid. There are some great things going on in detox, and the potential for some great conversations. Unfortunately, I spend a lot of time handing out towels, opening lockers, washing dishes and doing laundry. Staff are getting frustrated with it as well, it's not just me. But, that's one problem I haven't heard anyone come up with a solution for yet.

2 comments:

Lee said...

I think the idea of everyone being equal is bogus. You have a degree, sending so much time donig things that don't require college education is ridiculous. That's part of the many reasons why I wouldn't want to be a social worker, despite the training they have they still end up doing secretary work and various other jobs that don't require a college education.
Seems more like they're trying ot avoid hiring extra people for those jobs.

Awake and Dreaming said...

yeah. But it's more a non profit thing then anything else. Every non profit I've been in is like it. Like at street ministry, the team leader winds up helping unclog toilets (we have pictures, lol) and the officers (salvation army) wind up mopping floors.

When I did a practicum with the government, then it was different, but as I said, while we get government funding, we're not government, so we do this stuff.

Technically though, I shouldn't complain, cause I don't actually need a university degree to do my job. But really, most people there are fairly well educated. Even if they're not done their degrees yet. Or, they have really great life experience.