There are days when being a carpet cleaner is like being a detective. You walk into a situation with a clear goal—clean carpets, remove odors, make the client happy. Then, suddenly, things take an unexpected turn, and you’re left doing more than you ever anticipated. Today was one of those days. I had a repeat customer call me up with a pretty standard request: “I smell ammonia behind my recliner!” Simple enough, right? I was about to find out that things were about to get a little… more interesting.
As soon as I entered the apartment, I was greeted by the tiniest, feistiest little dog you’ve ever seen. Her name? Misty. She’s always ready for action, and today was no different. The second I walked in, Misty bounded over, giving me the once-over. It’s like she was sniffing out my very soul, just to make sure I was trustworthy. It’s the same routine every time—she gives me the sniff of approval, and we move on. But what I didn’t expect was that Misty’s sniffing skills would lead to an ammonia-filled mystery.
I made my way to the recliner, where Ms. Carol had reported the strange smell. Sure enough, behind the recliner, I was hit with a wave of ammonia so strong it could knock you out. The smell was pungent, like a chemical factory had exploded in there. It was clear that Misty had been using this spot as her personal bathroom for quite some time. And let me tell you, Misty may be small, but she sure knew how to leave a mark.
Now, when you encounter a situation like this, it’s not just about spraying and hoping for the best. You have to treat it properly. I had to apply the enzymatic cleaner multiple times, letting it dwell for as long as possible to give the enzymes a chance to work their magic. But hey, a little waiting time never hurt anyone, right? So, to kill some time, I wandered over to the lobby and plopped down in front of the TV. Not exactly how I envisioned spending my day, but a little break never hurt anyone.
After what felt like an eternity of waiting for the solution to soak in, I returned to the room, ready to finish the job. That’s when I noticed something strange: a tiny, water-filled container sitting next to the recliner. It was for a small Bissell machine. I raised an eyebrow. “Hey, Ms. Carol. Did you try to clean this yourself?” I asked, bracing myself for the answer.
“Oh, I sure did!” she replied proudly. My stomach did a little flip. Gulp. Sometimes, trying to clean something yourself only makes it worse. But hey, she gave it her best shot, and I couldn’t blame her for that. After all, everyone wants a quick fix, right?
Then I spotted something else—a rolled-up mat tucked away in the corner. I raised an eyebrow again. “What’s this mat for, Ms. Carol?”
“Oh, that’s the mat for my oriental rug,” she said casually. Aha, I thought. The plot thickens.
As I unrolled the mat, my nose was immediately assaulted by a familiar smell—urine. I winced. Yep, this mat had been a casualty of Misty’s bathroom habits too.
“Ms Carol this mat is drenched in urine”. She looks at me with a frown on her face and says, “Darn it, roll it back up and take it to the dumpster in the back of the building.”
Before I could even process what was happening, Ms. Carol was on a roll. “Take this paper shredder too!” she said, shoving it toward me like it was just another Tuesday.
At that moment, I realized something: I didn’t come here for junk removal, but somehow, here I was, carting off everything from oriental rug mats to paper shredders. It was like a game of “Take This!” with Ms. Carol, and I had unknowingly signed up for the whole shebang.
“Sure thing, Ms. Carol,” I said, laughing.
I looked at her, wide-eyed. So, not only was I here for carpet cleaning and odor removal, but now I was a junk removal expert too, tasked with making a pit stop at the giant dumpster in the back of the building. Well, this wasn’t in my job description, but hey, it was all part of the adventure.
So there I was, hauling off a rolled-up mat and a paper shredder, heading for the dumpster like I was on some sort of covert mission. But honestly, this kind of randomness is what makes the job so entertaining. One minute you’re knee-deep in ammonia and the next minute, you’re hauling someone’s unwanted items to the back of the building like a pro.
As I made my way back inside, I noticed Misty—the tiniest dog in the world—watching me from her perch. Her eyes were glued to me, filled with that unmistakable look of guilt. She seemed to know exactly what was happening. Maybe she didn’t want me to find out her secret bathroom spot, or maybe she was just wondering why I was taking her mat and her human’s shredder away. Either way, she definitely had that guilty dog expression, like “I’ve done bad things, and I know it.”
Eventually, the cleaning was finished, the odors were gone, and the room looked as good as new. I even managed to get rid of the rolled-up mat and the paper shredder—both safely disposed of in the big dumpster out back. As I packed up my gear and said my goodbyes, Ms. Carol thanked me for my work.
“Thank you so much! You’re always so great to work with,” she said with a smile. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I thought about the bizarre turn my day had taken. One minute, I was solving a mystery involving ammonia and feisty dogs, and the next, I was doing junk removal on the side.
And so, with Misty’s guilty little face in my rearview mirror, I finished up the job, ready to head off to the next one. Another day, another adventure in the life of a carpet cleaner. You never really know what you’re going to get—sometimes it’s just carpets and odors, and sometimes, you end up as the unofficial junk removal service. But hey, that’s the beauty of the job, right? No two days are ever the same.
So, off I went to my next job, ready for whatever the day would throw my way. Who knows what kind of unexpected twists I’ll face tomorrow? But one thing’s for sure: with Misty’s guilty little face and my impromptu trip to the dumpster, I wouldn’t be forgetting this job anytime soon.