Clean

a greek friend who lives abroad saw what happened at the rector's office at a greek university last night (a fifth year law student dumped rubbish over the rector's desk protesting against his belief that the rector is not doing enough for the students), and had this to say:

"I saw the video with garbage in the Rector's Office and my mind immediately went to the schools where I live now. where there are no cleaners. The kids clean their school each day, sweeping the backyards, scrubbing floors, cleaning toilets, planting flowers ... I know what some of you will say, that it is a harsh and oppressive system. And yet the kids live in a beautiful environment which they work for, unlike our own that destroy everything they find in front of them and choose to live in filth, without contemplating to pick up their own rubbish.

"Wouldn't it be a much more substantive motion if the student was collecting one or two garbage bags instead of emptying them? But that would not have made the headlines. It is our choice whether we want to live in amongst the trash or not."

i believe it all starts in the home: if you have learnt to live in a beautiful house where your mother cleans it (so she doesnt tire her kids out too early), or you have a maid to clean it (in other words, the act of cleaning is a job, and it is either your job or it isnt yours), then no doubt you will have no idea how to make your world clean and beautiful

today's photo shows my students taking a test - i had to ask for the most expensive (to maintain) room in the institute because we were so many - i promised to keep it clean, and told the students before they started the test that they must abide by this rule; but i must point out that we are a private institute, and we dont work in the same way as public institutes...

how do you teach the untrained to keep an acceptable level of cleanliness? i think it will take a whole generation - but if they never had good teachers to teach them this, then most likely it will never become part of their conscience