“I hate dusting!”
This was proclaimed on Saturday by someone I live with as it has been declared many times over the years.
Sitting on the couch with my laptop reading about the coming apocalypse and such, I happened to be in a gallant mood, for some reason, and I declared back, “I’ll take over the dusting and will do it from now on.”
The final three words were barely out of my mouth when a green dusting cloth was thrown my way and landed on my laptop. So, I dusted it.
I had forgotten that over the years, episodes of gallantry usually have led to misery for me and yet, from time to time, I am seized by them.
I closed my computer, grabbed the green cloth, and started dusting. How hard can this be, I chuckled.
Here are some of the less pleasant jobs I have done in my life.
I have spread soupy cattle manure in farm fields on windy days and looked back at the manure spreader only to receive a faceful of very wet cow crap.
I have grabbed heavy bales of hay as they’ve come off a baler and stacked them as high as I could on a hay wagon before running back to get the next bale.
I have spent hours with a jackhammer on bridge construction, demolishing old foundations.
I have worked long shifts in factories, delivered pop to stores and gas stations when it still came in wooden crates and glass bottles, grabbed the jar of pickled eggs as a bartender to keep it safe when fights would break out among the rowdy patrons on Saturday nights, and waded through pigpens filled with playful porkers as I gave them their feed and cleaned their pens.
But having spent my Saturday afternoon dusting, I can honestly say that I would much prefer any of the aforementioned jobs to the task of wiping down knick knacks for dust, especially, as it appears, our house is a veritable museum of knick knacks.
As I have heard it said somewhere before …
I hate dusting.
And now I have sentenced myself to a lifetime of it.
Truthfully, I would trade five facefuls of goopy cow crap to get out of it.
Pardon me as I go somewhere quiet and cry for a while.
©2020 Jim Hagarty
