My Ideal Job is a Cleaner

Atom, 27.01.2025

Don't laugh, but I've thought this way since I was a child.

There's No Future Being at the Bottom of Society

When I was a kid, I was a particularly well-behaved child. Until I was 10, I lived at home and after school I helped my parents with chores. I handled almost all the household duties within my capacity, from cleaning the house and cooking to feeding the pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, and cats.

My parents were farmers. They were busy with harder work in the fields. During summer and winter breaks, I would also help the adults with lighter tasks in the fields. Because I was quite short and thin, I spent most of my time herding cows on the hills.

After I turned ten, I had to live at boarding school, returning home once a week or once a month. So, I could only help with chores at home during the winter and summer breaks.

Later, I went to a big city to study and work, moving further and further away from home. Consequently, I saw my parents and family less and less. I'd go home once a year, or even only once every few years. Because everyone believed there was no hope or future for farmers in the countryside, it was necessary to strive to leave the countryside. This is a global trend.

The School's Labor Committee Member

At school, my grades weren’t exceptional, just average to above average. I managed to get into an ordinary (third-tier) university. But I was favored by my teachers because I was always eager to participate in school activities. So, I served as class monitor and as the labor committee member, responsible for organizing and leading dozens of students in various group labor activities.

Rural schools don’t have many maintenance staff. Many of the physical tasks at school had to be done by students in their early teens. Besides cleaning, we gathered firewood from the hills to supply the cafeteria for cooking. There was also mandatory labor at the school’s factory. Because the infrastructure in the countryside was underdeveloped, the school's water supply depended on a simple, self-maintained water pipe. If the water supply was cut off, the students had to carry water for the cafeteria.

I did the most cleaning. School cleaning took place twice a week, from classrooms to dormitories to the playground. It was a lot of work. As the labor committee member, I took pride in this, always leading the way in doing the dirtiest and most arduous work. Especially when dealing with the rudimentary toilets in rural areas, the filth and stench were indescribable. I had to lead by example, even using my own hands to unclog blocked toilets…

Despite all this, I still felt that cleaning was my favorite work at the time, because I felt a sense of accomplishment when seeing a dirty and messy environment become clean and tidy through our efforts.

I'd Rather Do a Humble Job

When we discussed future careers, I thought being a cleaner would be good, but I didn’t dare say it publicly because no one respects cleaners. They're seen as poor, dirty, and doing hard work.

Especially in rural areas, because generations had endured the hardships of physical labor, if farmers could choose their jobs freely, nobody would want to do any manual labor. In the eyes of farmers, office work is the only path to a future.

After starting work in the big city, cleaning of public areas in office buildings and apartments was all outsourced to cleaning companies. But it seemed that I could never escape the fate of being a cleaner. Because in shared apartments in the city, relying on cleaners once a week was not enough. Our neighbors and roommates would soil the kitchen and bathroom daily, so I had to take action myself.

Different people have different cleaning standards. Some people thought our apartment was clean enough, but in my view, it had to be restored to its pre-use state immediately after use.

# Trash Evolved from Physical to Spiritual

Even after going abroad, I lived in several European countries. Apart from higher-priced Airbnbs and hotels that had cleaning services, as long as I was in shared accommodation, I had to do the cleaning myself.

I discovered that more than half of people living in so-called highly developed civilized societies did not know how to maintain cleanliness in their homes. They were lazy or simply didn’t know how to do it.

I couldn't buy my own property immediately in a foreign country, so I rented several places. My roommates and neighbors were varied. I lived in student dorms and in government-subsidized affordable housing. My neighbors were all refugees.

Ten years ago, I participated in business travel groups and individual trips, where I briefly stayed in Europe for two weeks. Comparing that impression to my current experience, Europe feels increasingly dirty and chaotic.

Many times, I didn’t want to go out because bus stops and train stations were littered with cigarette butts, many corners were full of garbage, and there was human excrement. I thought that even animals like cats and dogs wouldn’t relieve themselves in such busy and bustling places.

There was also a lot of garbage randomly discarded on the streets. The garbage piles near our residence were particularly impressive. A lot of new clothes, furniture, and appliances were just discarded, and even more items had been deliberately damaged. Were Europeans so wealthy that they could discard perfectly good items? But the reality was, those were poor communities, inhabited by refugees and people with no income.

At that point, my understanding changed. Garbage wasn’t just about tangible objects. As I met more people and gained life experience, I realized:

The fundamental issue is people who are good at generating garbage. Their minds and thoughts have too much trash. Their actions and lifestyles are chaotic. They can't manage their own lives, let alone manage their belongings. That’s why we see so much garbage.

The Highest Level of Trash - From Mind and Thoughts

I used to live in a student dorm, a housing complex. The government subsidized millions of euros, providing low-rent accommodation for students and young people. The quality of infrastructure was close to that of a 4-5 star hotel.

But can you imagine the contrast? Some hidden corners of this high-quality residential complex were like refugee camps. There was graffiti all over the walls in the toilets and on the staircases, reading:

“Free Gaza, animal protection, LGBTQ, climate change, anti-racism”

See, they didn't care about their own living environment or what was on their doorstep. Instead, they cared about places thousands of miles away that they had never been to, and people they had never met. It's not just simple hypocrisy, it's utter stupidity.

In the corners of the buildings, there was also a pile of broken sofas. The tables were littered with cigarette butts, liquor bottles, and ads for cannabis clubs. These were places for addicts to rest and indulge in smoking. I often ran past these places, holding my breath and speeding by.

They were both young people with higher education and scientific backgrounds, but also addicts who were addicted to tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and marijuana. They were skilled in using the internet and computer technology. They had more creativity to create more chaotic lifestyles. Especially, their thoughts had more reach and influenced more young children. Here is where the highest level of trash was generated - the spiritual mind poison.

The Western World’s Tolerance for Trash

In the apartment building where I used to live, there were several drug users. Their filth and chaos were beyond description. They were polluting the air, water, soil, and solid matter, as well as spreading viruses. I won't go into too much detail, but will just list one example: [Ukrainian Refugee Vitali].

If I hadn't observed it up close, I wouldn't have had such a deep impression.

I reported it to the community manager, and asked, "How can we get rid of these people?" They said they were powerless and told me, "You can move out." That's the current attitude in the Western world. It represents the general attitude of the government, the majority of the general public, and various political forces:

Under the slogans of freedom, equality, and fraternity, Western societies tolerate all evil, causing what were once developed, prosperous, and powerful countries to become increasingly stagnant, dirty, poor, and backward.

People like me, who work hard and study diligently, cannot live in peace here. Because we like cleanliness and construction, and they are gradually removing the builders and cleaners, leaving more and more garbage creators who are good at polluting and destroying.

They're blindly confident that these unfortunate people need help, and that they are capable of helping them. This is also a form of Western arrogance and conceit.

If they really went into the homes of these major garbage creators and lived with them in the same building for three days, that would be genuine care and love. But from my observations, they also can't tolerate the filth and stench of that garbage and would flee quickly. These people are politically known as the white left.

I didn't used to pay attention to politics, but now politics have impacted my daily life. Upon close observation, I've realized that the white left likes to have others do things while they hide on the sidelines chanting slogans like "freedom, equality, fraternity, and tolerance". It is very generous, because it does not require them to pay much. The money to help major garbage creators comes from public taxes.

They are usually not wealthy themselves. However poor they are, they still contribute to the tax system. They don't receive any direct economic benefit, but they achieve spiritual wealth, which is the most important thing.

Back to the Beginning – Cleaning is the Most Valuable Career

The above examples show that the highest level and ultimate wealth in the world is spiritual. The highest level of trash is also spiritual, regardless of ideology.

Thinking back to my childhood experiences and original intentions, I still believe that cleaning is the most valuable and promising career.

Many times, a person’s nature determines their future career. Some of my characteristics explain everything. My computer desktop is completely empty. There isn’t even a background picture, just a solid color. That’s my consistent attitude towards garbage and untidiness.

My mission is not only to clear visible garbage on the ground but also to clear spiritual garbage. The pollution and destruction caused by those illusory things are greater, comparable to harmful drugs and viruses.

Why should we give up our living space to major garbage creators? Why should we give up our beautiful and clean world to polluters and destroyers? Fight, defeat, and completely clean out those dead bastards!

I want to be a cleaner for the rest of my life and in all my future lives.