Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Deceitful domestic detergent

I visited my friend Luciana who recently moved back in with her Mother.  Luciana's Mother has dementia and is no longer able to live alone.  The three of us had a good time talking and laughing.  Luciana's mother got up and went to the kitchen, we continued talking.  A moment later we noticed the very strong fragrance of cleaning solution.  We went to the kitchen to see what her Mother was cleaning that required so much solution.  Once we entered the kitchen the smell was almost overwhelming.  Luciana quickly opened a window and said, 'Mom, what are you doing?'  Her cute little Mother was standing in front of the sink wearing rubber gloves, the sink was full some sort of cleaning solution that oddly did not produce any bubbles.  Her Mother replied, 'Oh, I just thought I'd wash the dishes dear.'   Puzzled Luciana and I looked at each other, I said, 'What kind of dish soap are you using?' She reached into the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a nearly empty bottle of Spic 'n Span.  (Spic 'n Span is a cleaning solution used to clean kitchen floors NOT dishes)  Luciana said, 'Mom, this is not for dishes! We have to empty that water.'  Luciana's Mother said, 'We are not! I am going to wash these dishes!'  Luciana said, 'No Mom, this will make us sick, it is not for dishes, it is intended to clean the floor.'  Luciana's frustrated Mother picked up the bottle, pointed to the words on the bottle and said, 'Look here, it says FOR THE KITCHEN - dishes are in the kitchen!  I'm old but I can still read, child of mine.  I know I'm not crazy, you kids are always making me think I'm crazy!'  I laughed and said, 'Well, she does kind of have a point.'  Luciana giggled and said, 'You're not helping.'  I watched as Luciana calmly and gently moved her Mother away from the sink distracting her with a new topic of conversation.  Once they left the kitchen I drained the water from the sink, replacing it with new soapy water using actual dish washing soap.  Smiling as I caught another look at the Spic 'n Span bottle while I washed the dishes. 

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