{"id":166,"date":"2022-02-22T12:43:13","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T12:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/?page_id=166"},"modified":"2022-06-29T15:06:54","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T15:06:54","slug":"the-crash","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/?page_id=166","title":{"rendered":"The Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth jumped out of bed on Saturday morning at seven o\u2019clock. She opened her closet, her eyes scanning the rack of designer clothes. She didn\u2019t choose any of these, though. Instead, she turned to the right where a small chest of drawers stood. She squatted down and opened the bottom drawer. She grabbed a pair of threadbare sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt from the drawer, and a pair of canvas slip-ons from the floor and put these on. Elizabeth went into the en-suite bathroom and pulled her hair back into a ponytail to keep it out of her face. Her shoulder-length hair looked like she just stepped out of a shampoo commercial, thanks to her hair stylist. She paid him a fortune every 4 weeks to keep her hair shiny, healthy, and a perfect shade of auburn. Why not? She could afford it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She would take a shower later, but now she splashed water on her face, brushed her teeth and then headed downstairs to the kitchen. Elizabeth poured filtered water into the coffeemaker, ground some Hawaiian Kona coffee beans, filled the maker with the freshly ground beans, and set the machine to brew. She took her cleaning caddy from the utility closet and set off down the hall to the guest bathroom, the first of four bathrooms in her large, suburban house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cleaning the three full bathrooms and one guest bathroom was Elizabeth\u2019s Saturday morning routine. She had a luxurious three-bedroom home in a desirable neighborhood. She had a housekeeper who came in twice a week to dust, vacuum, mop the floors, do laundry, iron and even wash the windows. But, at Elizabeth\u2019s request, the housekeeper did not clean the bathrooms. Elizabeth reserved the cleaning of the bathrooms for herself. She needed to do it. It kept her grounded to reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She started her routine by going into each bathroom and opening the windows to ventilate the rooms. Then, in each room, she would toss a toilet-cleaner tab into each bowl and spray the shower stalls and the tile around the tub\/shower combinations with soap scum spray. The spray was a concoction of her own making. It was almost magical in its ability to clean soapy film off shower enclosures, but it had a strong vinegar odor, so Elizabeth sprayed the surfaces quickly, but thoroughly, and left each bathroom, closing the door behind her. After the last one, she went downstairs to drink a cup of coffee and allow the soap scum spray to do its work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she leaned on the work island in the kitchen, she thought back on her childhood and the reason for this Saturday morning ritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1975, when Elizabeth was born, her father was a Wall Street foreign exchange trader and she and her parents lived in White Plains. Elizabeth spent her first twelve years swimming at the country club, taking tennis lessons, competing in equestrian jumping and dressage events, and going to a private school. There was a nanny, a cook, a housekeeper and a \u201cgirl.\u201d The housekeeper kept things rolling along and did light housework. The \u201cgirl\u201d did the heavy cleaning. Elizabeth thought everyone lived like this. Her mother did not work at a job, but was on the boards of several charities. Elizabeth saw little of her father. He left the house early in the morning to go into the city and when he came home, he would sometimes go into his home office to work or go out somewhere with her mother. As a forex trader, he often had to be awake at odd hours to buy currencies in countries on the other side of the globe. Elizabeth would sometimes wake in the night to hear him in his home office. This always made her feel safe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth finished her coffee and went into each bathroom by to rinse the soap scum cleaner off the shower walls. After wiping down the showers, she used a squeegee and then a microfiber cloth to dry the walls. After she finished this task in all the rooms, she performed the rest of the chores one bathroom at a time. The toilet tab she had thrown into the toilet when she had opened the windows had had time to dissolve completely, so she scrubbed the inside of the toilet with a brush and checked the plastic hanging toilet cleaner, replacing it if necessary. She checked the toilet paper and tissue boxes, noting if anything needed replacing, and then she took all the towels and threw them out the bathroom door into the hallway. She cleaned all the porcelain\u2014the tubs, toilets, sinks and the bidet in her en-suite bathroom\u2014with a non-abrasive paste, then wiped each one with a wet cloth and buffed it with the drying cloth. As she polished and buffed, she thought back to when it all went wrong with her parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In<\/em> the<\/em> \u201880s,<\/em> there<\/em> seemed<\/em> to<\/em> be<\/em> much<\/em> more<\/em> money<\/em> and<\/em> many<\/em> more<\/em> parties<\/em> than<\/em> there<\/em> had<\/em> ever<\/em> been<\/em> before.<\/em> There<\/em> were<\/em> extravagant<\/em> purchases<\/em> by<\/em> both<\/em> her<\/em> parents.<\/em> A<\/em> very<\/em> snooty<\/em> woman<\/em> with<\/em> huge<\/em> eyeglasses<\/em> that<\/em> made<\/em> her<\/em> look<\/em> like<\/em> an<\/em> insect came and redecorated the entire house.<\/em> All<\/em> of<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> birthday<\/em> parties<\/em> during<\/em> this<\/em> time<\/em> were<\/em> so<\/em> lavish<\/em> that<\/em> she<\/em> didn<\/em>\u2019t<\/em> even<\/em> enjoy<\/em> them.<\/em> It<\/em> was<\/em> as<\/em> if<\/em> the<\/em> parties<\/em> were<\/em> a<\/em> way<\/em> for<\/em> her<\/em> mother<\/em> to<\/em> outshine<\/em> the<\/em> neighbors<\/em> and<\/em> not<\/em> a<\/em> way<\/em> for<\/em> her<\/em> to<\/em> celebrate<\/em> the<\/em> anniversary<\/em> of<\/em> her<\/em> daughter<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> birth.<\/em> In<\/em> addition,<\/em> her<\/em> father<\/em> and<\/em> mother<\/em> began<\/em> arguing<\/em> late<\/em> at<\/em> night<\/em> when<\/em> they<\/em> thought<\/em> she<\/em> was<\/em> asleep.<\/em> They<\/em> didn<\/em>\u2019t<\/em> seem<\/em> to<\/em> like<\/em> each<\/em> other<\/em> very<\/em> much<\/em> anymore.<\/em> There were<\/em> harsh<\/em> whispered words:<\/em> pills,<\/em> cocaine,<\/em> Scotch,<\/em> tennis<\/em> pro,<\/em> little<\/em> chippie,<\/em> shopaholic,<\/em> alcoholic,<\/em> workaholic.<\/em> Her<\/em> parents<\/em> were<\/em> not<\/em> happy<\/em> together,<\/em> but<\/em> seemed<\/em> to<\/em> resent<\/em> it<\/em> when<\/em> the<\/em> other<\/em> wasn<\/em>\u2019t<\/em> there.<\/em> It<\/em> went<\/em> on<\/em> like<\/em> that<\/em> for<\/em> a<\/em> while,<\/em> with<\/em> ups<\/em> and<\/em> downs,<\/em> but<\/em> nothing<\/em> changing,<\/em> until<\/em> it<\/em> all<\/em> collapsed<\/em> when<\/em> she<\/em> was<\/em> twelve.<\/em> For<\/em> years after it happened<\/em> she, like her parents,<\/em> saw<\/em> October<\/em> 19,<\/em> 1987<\/em> as<\/em> the<\/em> day<\/em> their<\/em> world<\/em> fell<\/em> apart,<\/em> but<\/em> looking<\/em> back<\/em> with<\/em> the<\/em> eyes<\/em> of<\/em> an<\/em> adult,<\/em> she<\/em> realized<\/em> it<\/em> began<\/em> way<\/em> before<\/em> Black<\/em> Monday,<\/em> the<\/em> day<\/em> of<\/em> the<\/em> Wall<\/em> Street<\/em> crash.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth took a spray bottle of all-purpose cleaner and wiped all the flat surfaces, the toilet tank, the faucets and handles. When those items were sufficiently shiny, she switched cloths and spray bottles and cleaned the mirrors. She repeated these steps in each bathroom, returned her cleaning caddy to the utility closet and removed the vacuum cleaner, along with a box of tissues for the guest bath and two rolls of toilet paper for the master bathroom. Elizabeth dragged the canister vacuum to the guest bath and left it there while she went on to the linen closet, where she picked up new towels. In each bathroom, she placed the fresh towels on the towel racks and rods and dropped off the tissues and TP where appropriate. She gathered the old towels from the floor and threw them down the laundry chute to the basement before taking the vacuum around to each bathroom for a thorough cleaning. She used all the attachments and concentrated on getting into every crevice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As<\/em> Wall<\/em> Street<\/em> crashed,<\/em> so<\/em> did<\/em> her<\/em> family.<\/em> Her<\/em> father<\/em> was<\/em> hard<\/em> hit<\/em> as<\/em> he<\/em> had<\/em> a<\/em> lot<\/em> of<\/em> money<\/em> in<\/em> New<\/em> Zealand, Australia<\/em> and Hong Kong, where<\/em> the<\/em> crash<\/em> began.<\/em> The<\/em> European<\/em> and<\/em> US<\/em> markets<\/em> had<\/em> a<\/em> heads<\/em> up<\/em> as<\/em> the<\/em> Asian<\/em> markets<\/em> tumbled<\/em> and<\/em> could<\/em> mitigate<\/em> the<\/em> effects<\/em> to<\/em> a<\/em> small<\/em> extent,<\/em> but<\/em> her<\/em> father<\/em> lost<\/em> everything.<\/em> He<\/em> lost<\/em> his<\/em> money.<\/em> He also<\/em> lost<\/em> his<\/em> clients<\/em>\u2019 money and<\/em> his<\/em> job.<\/em> As<\/em> a<\/em> result,<\/em> they<\/em> had<\/em> to<\/em> leave<\/em> the<\/em> country<\/em> club. There<\/em> were<\/em> no<\/em> more<\/em> tennis<\/em> lessons. The<\/em> horse<\/em> and<\/em> all<\/em> its<\/em> equipment<\/em> were<\/em> sold.<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em> started<\/em> attending<\/em> the<\/em> local<\/em> public<\/em> school.<\/em> Her<\/em> parents<\/em> fought<\/em> all<\/em> the<\/em> time<\/em> now.<\/em> Things went even further downhill.<\/em> Her<\/em> father<\/em> couldn<\/em>\u2019t<\/em> keep<\/em> a<\/em> job.<\/em> Her<\/em> mother<\/em> wanted<\/em> to<\/em> sell<\/em> the<\/em> house<\/em> and<\/em> simplify<\/em> their<\/em> lives,<\/em> but<\/em> her<\/em> father<\/em> kept<\/em> insisting<\/em> that<\/em> everything<\/em> would<\/em> be<\/em> fine. He<\/em> just<\/em> needed<\/em> a<\/em> bit<\/em> more<\/em> time<\/em> to<\/em> find<\/em> the<\/em> right<\/em> fit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three<\/em> years<\/em> after<\/em> the<\/em> crash,<\/em> things<\/em> were<\/em> no<\/em> better.<\/em> The<\/em> nanny,<\/em> the<\/em> cook,<\/em> the<\/em> housekeeper,<\/em> and<\/em> the<\/em> \u201cgirl<\/em>\u201d were<\/em> long<\/em> gone.<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> mother<\/em> tried<\/em> to<\/em> keep<\/em> up<\/em> with<\/em> the<\/em> house<\/em> and<\/em> the<\/em> cooking,<\/em> but<\/em> it<\/em> was<\/em> too<\/em> much<\/em> for<\/em> her.<\/em> The<\/em> house<\/em> fell<\/em> into<\/em> disrepair.<\/em> Small,<\/em> decorative<\/em> items<\/em> started<\/em> going<\/em> missing<\/em> from<\/em> the<\/em> house,<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em> noticed,<\/em> as<\/em> her<\/em> parents<\/em> had<\/em> to<\/em> sell<\/em> or<\/em> pawn<\/em> things<\/em> to<\/em> pay<\/em> the<\/em> bills.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It<\/em> all<\/em> came<\/em> to<\/em> a<\/em> head<\/em> with<\/em> another<\/em> crash.<\/em> Her<\/em> father<\/em> crashed<\/em> his<\/em> car<\/em> one<\/em> night<\/em> coming<\/em> home<\/em> from<\/em> who-knows-where<\/em> and<\/em> didn<\/em>\u2019t<\/em> survive.<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em> had<\/em> just<\/em> turned<\/em> fifteen.<\/em> As<\/em> soon<\/em> as<\/em> the<\/em> insurance<\/em> paid<\/em> out,<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> mother<\/em> sold<\/em> the<\/em> house<\/em> and<\/em> everything<\/em> in<\/em> it<\/em> and<\/em> moved<\/em> them<\/em> to<\/em> an<\/em> apartment<\/em> in<\/em> a<\/em> less<\/em> expensive<\/em> part<\/em> of<\/em> town.<\/em> Her<\/em> mother<\/em> tried<\/em> to<\/em> find<\/em> a<\/em> job,<\/em> but<\/em> she<\/em> had<\/em> no<\/em> training<\/em> and<\/em> no<\/em> work<\/em> history.<\/em> She<\/em> had<\/em> graduated<\/em> from<\/em> college<\/em> with<\/em> a<\/em> degree in English Literature<\/em> and<\/em> had<\/em> married<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> father<\/em> the<\/em> weekend<\/em> after<\/em> graduation.<\/em> Her<\/em> mother<\/em> tried<\/em> hard<\/em> to<\/em> put<\/em> food<\/em> on<\/em> the<\/em> table,<\/em> but<\/em> it<\/em> wore<\/em> her<\/em> down.<\/em> They<\/em> were<\/em> living<\/em> hand<\/em> to<\/em> mouth<\/em>, and<\/em> she<\/em> didn<\/em>\u2019t<\/em> know<\/em> how<\/em> to<\/em> live<\/em> like<\/em> that.<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em> wondered<\/em> if<\/em> her<\/em> mother<\/em> would<\/em> also<\/em> crash<\/em> her<\/em> car<\/em> \u201caccidentally.<\/em>\u201d She<\/em> had<\/em> always<\/em> thought<\/em> that<\/em> her<\/em> father<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> accident<\/em> had<\/em> been<\/em> suspicious.<\/em> Her<\/em> mother<\/em> carried<\/em> on<\/em> living,<\/em> but<\/em> she<\/em> never<\/em> thrived.<\/em> She<\/em> faded<\/em> away,<\/em> shrank<\/em> into<\/em> a<\/em> shadow<\/em> of<\/em> herself. She<\/em> never<\/em> fully<\/em> recovered<\/em> from<\/em> either<\/em> crash.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth brought the vacuum back to the utility closet and took out a bucket, a foam pad, and a large terry cloth rag. She filled the bucket at the sink, adding a floor cleaning liquid that smelled like oranges. Supposedly, it cut grease. Elizabeth simply liked the way it smelled. There was a mop in the utility closet that the housekeeper used for the other floors in the house, but Elizabeth washed the bathroom floors on her hands and knees. She used the foam pad to kneel on as she scrubbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon<\/em> after<\/em> her<\/em> father<\/em> died,<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em> got<\/em> her<\/em> first<\/em> job<\/em> at<\/em> a<\/em> motel<\/em> as<\/em> a<\/em> chambermaid.<\/em> She<\/em> had<\/em> pored over<\/em> the<\/em> classified<\/em> ads<\/em> and<\/em> had<\/em> walked<\/em> in<\/em> and<\/em> out<\/em> of<\/em> retail<\/em> stores<\/em> all<\/em> over<\/em> town<\/em> looking<\/em> for<\/em> work.<\/em> It<\/em> was<\/em> difficult<\/em> to<\/em> find<\/em> someone<\/em> who<\/em> would<\/em> hire<\/em> a<\/em> fifteen-year-old<\/em> off<\/em> the<\/em> books.<\/em> It<\/em> had<\/em> to<\/em> be<\/em> off<\/em> the<\/em> books<\/em> because,<\/em> at<\/em> age<\/em> fifteen,<\/em> she<\/em> couldn<\/em>\u2019t<\/em> get<\/em> a<\/em> work<\/em> permit.<\/em> Work<\/em> as<\/em> a<\/em> chambermaid<\/em> was<\/em> all<\/em> she<\/em> could<\/em> get.<\/em> She<\/em> took<\/em> the<\/em> job<\/em> because<\/em> it<\/em> was<\/em> more<\/em> regular<\/em> than<\/em> babysitting<\/em> and<\/em> it<\/em> paid<\/em> a<\/em> little<\/em> more.<\/em> On the job, Elizabeth<\/em> learned<\/em> how<\/em> to<\/em> clean,<\/em> how<\/em> to<\/em> make<\/em> a<\/em> bed,<\/em> how<\/em> to<\/em> operate<\/em> the<\/em> washing<\/em> machines,<\/em> how<\/em> to<\/em> iron.<\/em> She<\/em> learned<\/em> the<\/em> value<\/em> and<\/em> pride<\/em> involved<\/em> in<\/em> hard<\/em> physical<\/em> work.<\/em> She<\/em> learned<\/em> to<\/em> appreciate<\/em> those<\/em> who<\/em> spent<\/em> their<\/em> lives<\/em> doing<\/em> manual<\/em> labor.<\/em> In<\/em> the<\/em> years<\/em> following<\/em> the<\/em> financial<\/em> crash,<\/em> as<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em>\u2019s<\/em> home<\/em> life<\/em> had<\/em> gotten<\/em> messier,<\/em> the<\/em> home<\/em> itself<\/em> had<\/em> gotten<\/em> messy,<\/em> too.<\/em> After<\/em> she<\/em> got<\/em> the<\/em> job<\/em> at<\/em> the<\/em> motel,<\/em> she<\/em> kept<\/em> the<\/em> apartment<\/em> clean.<\/em> It<\/em> seemed<\/em> to<\/em> perk<\/em> her<\/em> mother<\/em> up<\/em> a<\/em> bit.<\/em> Elizabeth<\/em> had<\/em> had<\/em> many<\/em> jobs<\/em> throughout<\/em> the<\/em> rest<\/em> of<\/em> high<\/em> school,<\/em> while<\/em> she<\/em> attended<\/em> college,<\/em> and<\/em> as<\/em> she<\/em> worked<\/em> her<\/em> way<\/em> up<\/em> to<\/em> the<\/em> position<\/em> she<\/em> held<\/em> now,<\/em> but<\/em> she<\/em> never<\/em> forgot<\/em> the<\/em> job<\/em> that<\/em> lifted<\/em> her<\/em> up<\/em> out<\/em> of<\/em> despair<\/em> by<\/em> putting<\/em> her<\/em> on<\/em> her<\/em> knees<\/em> with<\/em> a<\/em> scrub<\/em> brush<\/em> in<\/em> her<\/em> hand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth emptied the bucket, wrung out the cloth and tossed it, along with the others, into the laundry chute. She went back to the kitchen for a second cup of coffee. As she sat, looking around her designer kitchen and out the window into her perfectly landscaped backyard, she smiled. Look at all I\u2019ve achieved, she thought. I earned all this. But, you never know. And, if someday it all gets taken away, at least I can still scrub a bathroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 2019 Liza Cameron Wasser<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth jumped out of bed on Saturday morning at seven o\u2019clock. She opened her closet, her eyes scanning the rack of designer clothes. She didn\u2019t choose any of these, though. Instead, she turned to the right where a small chest of drawers stood. She squatted … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-166","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=166"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330,"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/166\/revisions\/330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lizacameronwasser.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}