How Do You Fire A Cleaning Lady

I don't know if you know this, but we've had quite a few cleaning ladies since we moved into this house more than five years ago - gawd(!) I still can't believe I've lived in this State this long. Recently, I got yet another new one... Geena... I realize I have to fire her now but I feel like I need a better reason then the one I have...

The first cleaning ladies I hired were these two black ladies who worked full time at a child care centre. They came here after work in the evenings to clean and went on to work a baby-sitting job. They were very nice and cleaned well (enough) - yes, I'm very picky. I noticed after letting them try some Asian snacks one time that the more food and root beer I gave them, the lower the price to clean our house lol! Alas, as cheap as it was getting, the timing just wasn't good for us as they'd always be cleaning during our dinner hour. It wasn't that hard to let them go as the reason was legitimate and I personally thought they really needed some rest or spend time with their own kids at home lol. ...then K, the ex-friend, recommended Tracie. K told me that while she didn't think Tracie could ever become a friend 'coz she was, in-K's-words, 'white trash', she admitted that Tracie did a pretty good job cleaning her house even though she'd already found a replacement for her. Since I wasn't looking for a friend, I hired Tracie without much ado. Tracie was great... she did a really good job all the time, cleaned extra (knowing that I would pay her more going the extra mile). Tracie then worked for us for almost four years consecutively without fuss. We weren't friends but we got along and she'd tell me about the men she dates and about her horrible teenager kids. She even played bartender at our Chinese New Year parites. Unfortunately, due to a line of unforseen incidents, Tracie told me, first, she was given a great offer by a friend in the restaurant business in Mississippi and would have to quit cleaning. It was sad but it was a lot more money with benefits, so I relented. But she continued cleaning for me as her house was't sold for awhile. Eventually, even without the house being sold, she told me she had to move back to Alabama to take care of her ailing father (who had been sick on and off for at least the last two years to my knowledge). So that was that... except weeks later, I found out that Tracie and her boyfriend were arrested in Alabama for breaking an entry into one of her customer's house and took with them more than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of jewelry. What I heard next shocked me even more! Tracie had tested postive for cocaine! While I never left Tracie alone cleaning in the house, I can't say we have ever found anything missing... yes, I did have that bank issue a couple of summers ago but we're still not convinced it could have been her... I felt really bad... for Tracie. I mean, she must have been so desperate... so out of control... she was making good money cleaning a bunch of houses out here... why did she have to go get mixed up with this ass arrgh! All it takes is one wrong turn I suppose.

Next person I met, I liked a lot. Of course my mind fails me right now and I can't remember the name of this person I like a lot hahaha! Oh yes, Angie is her name lol. I met her when I was getting my hair done and talking about needing a new cleaning lady. Angie was standing right there and handed me her business card. Awesome! She started cleaning for me immediately and with Angie, I was almost never around when she cleaned. She was the best cleaner and I trusted her 100%! She even tidied up the house which I realized cleaning ladies don't do unlike the maids back home lol. Yes yes, I know, they are not maids (YAWN!). But Angie had always been an office bound person until she lost her 21 year old son a couple of years ago and needed a change of scenery... unfortunately, she didn't last long enough. A subdivision of some big courier firm offerred her a great package to work at home and Angie left. She was sweet and left me with a way out with Geena's contacts. She told me while she didn't know her, she knew Geena had been cleaning for a long time and was a friend of a friend.

So here I am stuck with Geena for the last couple of months. I can't say I like her as a person (not that I dislike her... but the vibes are negative I guess I'd say)... on her first meeting, before cleaning, she tells me everything she doesn't do nor bing her own cleaning supplies. Fine though I'd admit, up till now, everyone who had previously cleaned for me brought everything they needed. No laundry, no bed making, no ironing etc etc. No biggie. I always make my own bed anyway - or sometimes the king does it if he wants to be nice lol. But it just didn't really start out on the right foot telling me what you don't do instead of the other way round. ...another problem, she was cleaning with her shoes on. That bugs me when I don't even let my guests come in with shoes! After she'd cleaned the kitchen floor and left shoe prints all over one day, I knew she had to go! You don't just look like you're cleaning without being thorough. That annoys me. The second time she came, I left a note for her (she lets herself into the house usually) asking her to clean the deck and noted that I would pay her extra - even tho' I also told her not to clean some other parts of the house, almost the entire upstairs. Fine. She did a good job and I paid her an extra twenty bucks on top of the regular rate I usually would. Last week she came and as usual, I left a note for what she'd missed the previous time she was here and what she had to do extra. Again, I told her to clean the deck. When I walked in from the gym, I noticed she'd not cleaned the deck yet. We exchanged pleasantries and I realized she was kind of in a quiet mood... so I made small talk and eventually she went 'you know, I can't clean the deck every time for the amount of money you pay me. You'd have to pay me extra'. I was puzzled. Didn't I pay her the amount she asked for the last time she was here and gave her more?! I asked her this and she confirmed that I remembered right. Ok... so what's the bloody problem? When I told her that I would pay her extra - whatever amount she told me - she then became her usual chatty self again. That bugged the hell out of me! I'm not here to cheat you woman?! I never have... and the last thing I would do is to cheat you of a sorry ass twenty or thirty bucks! I just want you to do a job that I don't enjoy doing! SHIT!

On top of all that, what REALLY bugs me most about Geena is her heavy phlegmed smoker- cough. But I can't possibly say that she's being fired 'coz of her damn cough lol! So... somebody with experiance in firing cleaning ladies... how do I put it nicely... in a civil way - unlike the way I fired the yard guy a few years ago and thought he'd come back to kill me lol!! :)