harsh chemicals

it's 2am and i've finally finished the culminating event of the KP week that i couldn't start until quarter to midnight. that is, i've cleaned up/down the whole kitchen i've been tidying in parts on other days.

[a note on terminology, however: yes, this is the same "KP" as that described in the context of the army, the prison, and the ship (and their various fictional dramatisations). i assure you that, though the logical sum of elements would imply that i had joined the Marines, i actually reside in a much more democratic community. so democratic, in fact, that nothing happens without a meeting and a vote. if, at the present moment, i occupy the role of House Mascot (it's the youth, i tell you), the day will come (soon) when i seize that of Much-Needed Dictator ("think of the [efficiency]...".]

in any case, i couldn't start until late because i was (for something completely different) closing the shop, where it's KP 24/7 (or, whatever, eX-P 15/6). which is probably part of the reason i finished "so fast" (as everyone around the house kept remarking. as they wandered in and out. inquiring as to whether i needed—of all things—any advice).

please, i could have said. i spend the better half of my existence mopping up other people's spills. and then i attend to the "higher thoughts." oh, wait...i guess it is the better whole....

please, i could have also said. it's not the scrubbing—but the discussion. there's this myth about shared labour and inversely proportional time that becomes blatantly false when it involves talking. not to mention the fact that the quality with which the chore is done tends to decline. it's as bad as using Eco-friendly "cleaning" (by which is meant "smearing the dirt around anti-antibacterially and free of fragrance") products....