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The Coat of Arms

The Student News Site of Menlo School

The Coat of Arms

The Student News Site of Menlo School

The Coat of Arms

Cleanliness is next to phoniness

Cleanliness is next to phoniness

Should we always have to hide our true selves and lives to please others?            

Claudia Corrigan | Opinions and Co-Spread Editor
Creative Commons image by Loveteamin on Wikimedia
 

Like many homeowners, when my mother foresees a houseguest, her only thoughts are preoccupied with cleanliness – how can she rearrange our disorderly domain into a seemingly spotless specimen in under five minutes?

As I help to shove rogue piles of books into the nearest dresser (without second-guessing what actually belongs in that drawer), I start to imagine other families, minutes before a guest enters their home. Regardless of whether the person is my grandfather, a coworker, or a friend who has been to our home numerous times, my mother always feels the need to have the entire family scramble for a “ten-second tidy.”

Although I understand that image and first impressions can mean the world when meeting a stranger for the first time, trying to obscure “flaws” like miscellaneous books and orphaned papers from the vision of close friends and relatives makes me feel as though we are trying to hide something.

The people who come to your house on a regular basis choose to do so. If they didn’t feel comfortable with overwhelming filth of your living space, they’d suggest a different venue. I never understand what my family is trying to prove with a “spotless” living space. Do we not do anything in our home? (Read books, play boardgames, wear shoes, etc.) – That, in itself, probably weirds guest out more than any amount of clutter.

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