Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: tonyoliver on May 15, 2007, 09:12:24 pm
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DO YOU THINK AS AN INDUSTRY WE SUFFER FROM A LOW SOCIAL STATUS ?
any storys
ever been ignored ,abused , or have people been just plain rude because you are a window cleaner ?
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Yeah all the time.
We're "only window cleaners" and that'll never change. :-\
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Dont really care what people think, i know i am happy doing what i do, so sod them, wouldnt swap this job for any that iv done in the past or any that any of my mates do!
There are so many advantages and so much potential in this job that joe public dont realise, buts thats good, as it stops every tom dick and harry starting up! :D
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JUst tell them you are a Vision Technician.... That gets their attention. lol ;D ;D ;D
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or glass maintenance engineer
but then again only do that if your sad and ashamed to be earning £200+ for almost a no brainier
its only the money that i keep doing this, if it was paid like any other job wouldnt bother
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What other jobs you done alex? And what would you be doing if not W/C
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To be honest I have been window cleaning for 2 yrs now and I havent really had anyone belittle the work I do and most of the time its to the contary where the customers are delighted to have someone reliable and trustworthy.
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Fred Housego was only a taxi driver. Untill he won master mind. DAi
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painter and decorating with my dad on and off over 5 years with my dad, while window cleaning,
it wasn't bad, can earn better than w/c if you get the right work, but there is just something about it i dont like
was a cleaner in a school when i was at college, and then did that after working w/c during the day w/c from 8 - 3.45 then 3.45-6.45 cleaning the school
i havnt done alot of jobs but, i get to meet new people, talk with clients see some lovely views, work outside, get fit, be my own boss, live a relatively nice life, and for not for a tremendous amount of work.
i don't know what self employed work you can do for such little outlay and reap such huge benefits
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I was once given a good piece of advice????
I was sat in a pub one day,having a drink and talking to Benny from crossroads (TV soap opera) for you young members. ;D He played the thick guy.
I asked him, as a joke what its like to be thick ::) ;D
He asked me how much I was earning and I think it was around £12 a week :o he looked at me and laughed and said 'well I'm on £200 a week, 'so it pays to be think dunit' ;D
So if people look down at you, just smile to yourself and think of the above piece of advice, IT PAYS TO BE THICK (even though your not.)
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Never look down on somebody unless your helping them up.
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Personally i couldnt care less what other people think.
Im happy doing what I do so as far as Im concerned thats all that matters.
At the end of the day its them thats doing a mundane job for someone else, while we have the freedom to come and go as we please (within limits) ::)
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I like to be low status and earning roughly £30 an hour when i,m at work, dont think i could earn that if i was cutting grass- litter picking or carrying bricks for somebody on a building site ;D
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These days you would be lucky to be earning that if you were laying them,the influx of foreigners has killed the building trade.
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Yeah, I notice it all the time, like when you meet new people and the subject of jobs comes up. The patronising comments, people "tactfully" changing the subject, or asking if it's a fill-in thing between real jobs, all sorts!
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A few old girlfriend's mothers have been very snotty with me on the first meeting. Always remember one silly old b|tch who just sniffed and walked off when this bird told what I did :o
Personally, I blame Stan Ogden from Coronation Street for ruining our image >:(
These days, I just lie and say I'm unemployed or an ex-con ;)
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Am I alone in that I couldn't careless what people think of the job I do?
To me if they put any store by the job I do then don't talk to me.
I'm happy doing what I do and most of my customers are happy that I do the job that I do. I meet some great people and most are really nice to know. I do ok and have the freedom to do the job as I want to.
How many people can say that?
If some see my job as low social status then so what? If their toilet got blocked up the person they'd be most happy to see is someone to unblock it. Status is like a blocked toilet, the sh*t smells no matter who dumps it.
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I think it gets to you more when someone has wound you up before, I had a job that I'd been cleaning for 6 months who had before the last clean added a hook and eye to the already bolted gate that I had permission to gain access to. After there last clean I had an irate phone call claiming that I had invaded there privicy by gaining access and that when she pulled me off the street there was no such aggreement, Nothing of cause to do with the fact that she now owed me for 3 cleans despite cheque requests, But pulled me off the street ? for a 2 bed semi the snot nosed cow who still hasnt paid will do eventually.
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If some see my job as low social status then so what? If their toilet got blocked up the person they'd be most happy to see is someone to unblock it. Status is like a blocked toilet, the sh*t smells no matter who dumps it.
One of the reasons I bowed out of Plumbing. ;D
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Inevitably at a party or similar the subject gets to what you do for a living quite quickly. So I tell them. Then comes the line. "Oh. That's alright" (because they're really thinking that it isn't). I just say "Yes. I know".
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It's the 'Stan Ogden/George Formby' effect isn't it?
The image of the lower working class man with a flat cap, a pushbike and a wooden pointer over his shoulder....
Just like the 'binmen' or the 'road sweepers'....
I had one account where they were perfectly happy to pay me really good money, but then I turned up in a brand new van, all sign written and they totally changed, it was like they just could not get their head around the fact that I was earning enough to buy a new vehicle.
The guy decided to go once a month instead of fortnightly, his reason being because he resented paying for my van.
So I put the price up £15 ;D
It only happens occasionally though..just another form of bigotry.
Ian
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We're always gonna be frowned upon for being just a 'winda kleener', as my mrs does! But why is it then that a few of my mates in pretty good jobs have wanted to get in on my business in the past?
I seem to remember somebody a long time ago on here saying they used to b an accountant, why give that up if window cleaning is so low class?
As mentioned in a previous post i refer to myself as a VISION TECHNICIAN, its on my baby son whos 1 yr old, birth certificate. Im proud of it!
SH** i spelt birf sutificat rite!....... Cant be that much of a dunce!
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As mentioned in a previous post i refer to myself as a VISION TECHNICIAN, its on my baby son whos 1 yr old, birth certificate. Im proud of it!
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I wasn't as quick thinking as you. My nipper's got window cleaner on his birth certificate. Kicked myself when I got out, I could have put astronaut or scientist.
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Think of it this way, A student starts in collage, first he/she takes out a whacking great loan, bums off their parents for 3 years and then starts a job. Depending on what they do, they will start at 16 to 20k a year, and up to their necks in debt.
A window cleaner starts his round, in about 3 years his earnings should be about 25k, and he is debt free.
I think that a good round should be worth a hell of a lot more than twice the monthly take. But you can still buy a round for 5 grand that lets you start at 25k per year.
Compare that to student loans, tuition fees, and 3 years of not earning.
Nothing wrong with window cleaning It's just that some of the public have a flawed sense of perception.
I heard this morning of a window cleaner in Wrexham, he has 6 vans on the road, a new big house, and a twin turbo porsche parked outside.
I would just like to know how he manages to keep all his workers on a self employed basis, But that's a topic for a new thread. Dai
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'Where theres muck theres brass ' and it will always be that way, bless the bloke who invented glass
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I have been in this Trade for over 20 years, at the beginning I like most WCs
thought this was not the type of work to be proud of, but after a few years I came to the recognition that I always had plenty of work and enought money to have a reasonable life style and im proud to be a Window Cleaner, lots of mates/blokes who use to try and put my job down are now out of work, getting Benefits or jealous of the fact that I can decide whether I work today or not and dont need to Bum upto the Boss or sit in a stuffy Office; I am my own Boss.
This Trade will be there as long as we have windows, I know Im good at what I do and so do my customers, who cares what some Tosse*s think about the Job I have loads of Job satisfaction, who can say that of there Job nowadays ?.
Terry
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I know that I sometimes think that I am of low social status being a window cleaner....before anyone rips my head off....that is just me...I used to have jobs where I had 'status' within organisations and I do sometimes feel that I am just the window cleaner...
But when I read this forum I feel much better and it is only occasionally that I feel low....but today I only did 2 hours work and took in what I normally do in a day...so today I am on a 'high'
So what I am trying to say is that perhaps the perception of status is just in my head...maybe others feel the same?
I have only had 1 occasion that someone has been a 'funny', 2 weeks ago I was due to clean a particular house and a specific day (no time given to customer) and when I got there I saw her turn up and said hello which she just ignored me, so I let it go, then when driving home I stopped at a junction and let her cross, she again just ignored me (despite looking directly at me), then when I got home there was a answerphone message from the Lady complaining saying that she had waited in all morning with the window shut for me to come (remember I do give days but not times), then she phones my house and says she was not happy with the clean...her husband gets on the phone and then says he was not happy with the clean...I explained that I was sorry and that from the snotty phone call from his wife and her blanking he could have the clean for free and find another window cleaner....then he got all apologetic...but despite this they are still dumped... ;D
Cheers
Dave. ;D ;D
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Prior to window cleaning I was a Staff Sergeant - in a Warrant Officer's post - some lads, because of the job I did called me, 'Sir'; mistaking my rank for my position, when I really should've been called, 'Staff'. (I used to pretend to 'abuse myself' when this happened ;D).
But I've never been pretentious and to be honest the only time I feel like someone's trying to put me down and tell me I'm ONLY window cleaner is when they either:
Say, 'Not this month, mate', without an explanation.
Or
Drop me curtly without an explanation.
Mind you, I usually don't let them get away with it.
A few of my old friends are surprised by my occupation, but I haven't got an eighth of the stress that they suffer and financially I'm doing better than many of them; so I don't really care what people think.
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Tosh:
when I was in the army, I was always welding up cars for people after they failed MOT's. I was earning a nice second income whilst being paid for being in the army.
It got to the stage that I was buying 3/4/5 cheap cars at a time and picking the best bits and combining them all into 1 or 2 cars (legally and above board I might add), then selling them on.
From my profits I bought a Porsche 944 Turbo with all the full body accessory kits and extra wide low profile wheels etc.
I use to live out of army camp permanently even though i was suppose to be a resident of the barrack/s. Every time I use to drive into camp i would be saluted because the people on guard duty thought I was an officer because they were too afraid to check my identity card properly otherwise they would have spotted it straight away. I was only a corporal but I use to have a giggle over it.
Back to window cleaning, I don't care what social status people regard me as, I'm proud of who and what I am now as a window cleaner and couldn't give a monkeys what others think!