Domestic worker drinks wealthy client's water, gets asked for a discount

Ana Ferreira runs a small business in Bellingham, Washington. After several years of hard work, her professional home cleaning service Sparkly Clean has a roster of regular clients and she is able to sustain herself. After cleaning a particular client's house for the first time, however, she received a shocking text. The client (who was seemingly wealthy as they had just installed a new pool in their house) asked her for a discount. Why? Well, she had filled up her water bottle with drinking water from their kitchen sink. Ferreira shared screenshots of the text conversation online, where it quickly went viral. Several individuals have criticized the client for their inhumanity.

The text from the client reads: "Hi, I just wanted to let you know that we loved the cleaning last week and was wondering if you could come back every month? Also, we were wondering if you could give us a discount next time? We saw you refilling your water bottle from our sink. It seems not a big deal but our water bill is high especially with our new pool..." You would think that the humane thing to do would be to offer someone water—a frickin' basic human right—if they were working in your home to ensure it's clean. The client claimed they were looking forward to seeing Ferreira again, but the successful business owner had other plans in mind.

"Hi, I am so very glad you loved the cleaning last week, I give my all to every house," she replied. "As far as the water I took from your sink: with the face mask, gloves, the AC off in your home, it gets very hot. I sweat a lot when cleaning which I have to replace with water. I have to be hydrated because it wouldn't be fun me passing out in your home because of dehydration." Of course, she did not owe anyone an explanation for why she deserved a drink of water. Nonetheless, she offered to "reimburse" the client for the 32 ounces of water she filled up her water bottle with (at two cents a gallon). She concluded on a strong note, affirming, "As far as me coming back again, it seems like we're not a good match. I wish you good luck and health. Have a good day."

This woman deserves a round of applause for keeping it together like that. On Twitter, some have pointed out that they were glad she was in a position to refuse someone's business if they had treated her badly. She responded via Twitter, "Even if I [weren't in a position to turn down future work] (with [the pandemic] out there, I'm not), I’ve spent years working on my business [and] my self-worth. I’ve learned that being my own boss means exactly that, I can choose who I clean for. Being happy in what I do, it’s important because I will do my best work every time." Several others expressed disgust with how the client had dehumanized her, essentially. Ferreira shared that there was "radio silence" from their end after her last text. Well, whoever you are, you thought you could be rude to a domestic worker but I hope you know that basically the whole internet knows how crappy you were. So here's the moral of the story, kids: Treat your domestic workers with respect.