I resist a lot of the conveniences that my social circle often takes.

1. Taxis
2. Smart phones
3. Owning real furniture
4. Cable TV
5. Magazine subscriptions
6. Dry cleaning and/or wash and fold service
7. Cleaning services

Now I don’t know if it’s because of my Asian upbringing, but everything can be a waste of money. And yet am I hypocritical?

But wait let’s back to number 7.

One of the first few potential roommates I interviewed said that he liked having a cleaning service come regularly—every week. He had been perfect up until that moment. I reacted almost too quickly, “Oh I am not sure about that…”

Later, he said that he was going to get his car to try out the garage. I was excited to have the roommate search to be over. I waited 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes…then he called to say that he changed his mind and was going to take another place.

So when another potential roommate visited, I held back my tongue and just nodded. But she surprised me by saying that she would pay for it…that she didn’t mind.

Today, I came home to a sparkling oven and range. Squeaky floors. Emptied out trash. It was welcome…and yet strange. Almost uncomfortable. But it was clean. Even though I hated how my previous roommate did non-adequate job of not cleaning, I had done it all. I emptied the trash, scrubbed the bathtub, swept the floor, wiped down the counters, mopped the hardwood floors. But never a completely perfect job. This…today’s cleaning was complete.

It troubled me for some reason. I had explicitly stated earlier that my room was not to be cleaned, so it was the only room in the entire apartment that was untouched—my bed unmade, my wrappers here and there…my desk still the way I left it…it contrasted, but it was mine. All mine. My control.

There was an article I read recently about a study that showed that people who did moderate housework regularly were healthier than those who did not.

I don’t want to be that person who relies on a cleaning service to have a happy home. I want to be satisfied.

Then it comes to this question: why do we have to measure our happiness by the level of cleanliness?