Boundaries Are Important

From childhood, I have been adamant about maintaining my personal boundaries and very detail-oriented.

This is a rather dangerous combination.

For example, my bedroom was my space. And if anything was not exactly as I had left it, I would notice. And then I would be upset. Very upset.

As a child, this problem was easily resolved: I didn't like it when my mom cleaned my bedroom because it meant that she would touch all of my stuff. So, I cleaned my bedroom myself.

As a professor, this problem is not so easily resolved.

While I love my office, I do not love that the cleaning staff clean it. The waste basket and recycling bin are never put back in exactly the right position. The chairs are not placed at the proper angles to each other. My piles of papers and files have been moved. But most of all, when they dust, their dust cloth leaves little fibers all over the surfaces that have been wiped.

And all of this means that after each very-early-in-the-morning-visit from the cleaning staff, I must clean up after them.

All furniture must be returned to their proper places and positions. Papers and files must be sorted back into their appropriate places. And all the little fibers need to be wiped up.

And then I'm thoroughly upset that some stranger has been touching all of my stuff.

In the grand scheme of things, this really is a petty issue. But I'm not only perfectly capable of cleaning my own office, I actually prefer to be the one who cleans it.

Maintaining my boundaries are very important, after all.