Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Life's too short

Flipping through the mail yesterday, I discovered a brochure from a cleaning company. The cover had a photo of a high-end enjoying some leisure time in their high-end house. The caption: "Life's too short to clean your own house."

Life is too short to clean your own house. This has already become a catchphrase at chez Darwin. There are many reasons why one might outsource the cleaning of her home: the ability to afford such help; the inability to do the cleaning oneself, due to illness or pregnancy. To argue that life is too short to perform a necessary task of hygienic purposes, however, presupposes a fundamental lack of seriousness. Life's too short to take a shower. Life's too short to do your own laundry. Sheesh.

Look: I don't really enjoy cleaning my house. It's dull and has an inherent frustration in that I know I'm just going to have to repeat the same activities tomorrow, or even later the same day. (Wanna know how often I have to sweep my kitchen floor?) But complaining that life is too short to clean is just silly, as if "life" were some hazy shining ideal that exists just outside the scope of the mundane. "Life's too short to clean your own house": no, life is cleaning your own house.

As they say, that's life.

5 comments:

Maureen said...

How can I clean house when there are so many good books to read!

CMinor said...

Phyllis Diller used to suggest keeping an easel in one corner of your living room, whether or not you painted. People will excuse much disorder if they think you're an artist!

RobKPhD said...

How does one applaud online. I love your last line!

Dorian Speed said...

Y'all are real good writers.

(thus have I condensed my responses to this and the cannibals post, to conserve energy. Doing my part to end global warming)

Sarah Reinhard said...

*laughing, clapping*
All these books, so little time, so MANY dishes and dustbunnies...I say, use that creativity, name the blasted things, and create a new universe in which dust is acceptable... :)