to be a bit miffed by this cleaner

[June2009]

I know I may be, sorry if this is long.

My regular cleaner is on holiday and so the agency has arranged for a temp to cover her.

Today I had two missed calls, called the number back and end up having a weird conversation with some bloke asking me for directions to my house. I ask him who he is he says he is "nobody" (?!) and that the temp cleaner (maybe a friend of his?) did not have credits on her phone so used his to ask for directions to my house.

Our house is very easy to find if you bothered looking at a map.
I have never phoned any of my employers to ask them for directions. I would never dream of it, it just looks unprofessional to me.

aibu to call the agency tomorrow and ask them to send me someone else?

Yes, it was unprofessional.

But cleaning isn't really a profession, is it?

No

Tell the agency. Bloody weird

Parakeet - 'Cleaning isn't a profession'? Well running an agency is.

If the cleaner himself or herself had rung up, introduced themselves and asked for directions, then I would've given them without hesitation. But this sounds a bit dodgy... But then again, was the man English? Or rather was English not his first language. If not, maybe his langugage skills just weren't upto much and this is why the conversation was so odd.

I wouldn't cancel the cleaner on this basis btw.

I would actually say cleaning is a profession in a way. There are enough people moaning about their cleaners on mn. Therefore if a cleaner works hard and has high standards, takes her job seriously and professionally i would call it a profession.

I agree with Startingagain.

If not a profession then what is it?

It is a job someone has, and gets paid for it.

Oh, to worry about the cleaner.

I know Red, it's a luxury not all of us can afford. But if someone can they can and good luck to them. I did have one in the old days before I became a lone parent. (have always worked then and now).

Hey ho.

"cleaning isn't really a profession"

How exactly is cleaning not a profession?

It's because the people who do it don't wear Boden and are usually common.

I once met one who wore a tracksuit and she wasn't even going to the gym.

Anyway OP, it may sound a bit odd, but no harm done, he was just trying to find out where you live.

It doesn't sound very odd to me. The man was probably not British. I am not either and i do say things that might sound 'odd' to a british person. Or rude....

Sorry, i pressed 'post' before i finish.

I meant to add that this happens when you translate word by word from your language into english instead of translating whole sentences or idioms. And 'nobody' probably meant 'you don't know me' or 'don't worry, its not very important'. I had a friend who used to say 'nobody'.

Main Entry: pro·fes·sion
Pronunciation: \prə-ˈfe-shən

Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English professioun, from Anglo-French profession, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin profession-, professio, from Latin, public declaration, from profitēri
Date: 13th century

1 : the act of taking the vows of a religious community
2 : an act of openly declaring or publicly claiming a belief, faith, or opinion : protestation
3 : an avowed religious faith
4 a : a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation b : a principal calling, vocation, or employment c : the whole body of persons engaged in a calling

4a I assume is what we're going for here. Not all jobs are professions. It's not an insult, don't get all huffy, but there is a distinction between jobs that require long training and/or qualifications and/or membership of a professional body and jobs that do not.

but it is a profession though, you can take courses for it, So you get a qualification. Hence its a profession.

I would love a cleaner but not many like the dogs.

Oh. My. Goodness. Someone didn't know how to get to your house. Got someone else to phone. Did they turn up and clean?

I wouldn't be miffed, but I would be suspicious that she has a controlling dp or ex, who may be trying to find out where she was. But I have probably watched to many things about stalkers and abuser on tv.

Would you not have been more pissed off if the cleaner hadn't turned up because she couldn't find your house?

I don't see a problem in phoning somewhere to get directions, and don't see it as unprofessional. I think bumbling around looking for somewhere for an age and then turning up late is unprofessional.