Not in the Spirit of Community Living

I love Menno House, but it is becoming clear that I have some sort of complex about it. I think it boils down to this: When I applied to the house I was a poor student watching my savings shrink as I paid a hefty rent and labored at a 10 hour a week job paying $7.35 /hr. But when I moved in to Menno House I had a good job and a tuition exemption. I feel like I tricked the system a little. Of course, when I express this feeling to my housemates they give me a funny look and assure me it doesn't matter. But I'm a champion worrier, so I've got it into my head that I will be found out and evicted. I've already had two anxiety dreams to that effect.

Most of my housemates are working at low paying jobs or are part of Mennonite Voluntary Service, which is sort of like Americorps. The MVS people have a food stipend and then $50 a month of discretionary spending. That is barely anything, especially in this city. When I moved in, one of the outgoing residents told me that moving my stuff up all those stairs would be a bigger headache than I expected. "But," he told me, "The MVSers will do anything for $10. Get them carry it."

Ever since he said that I've been tempted to pay my housemates to do things for me. I make money, they need money. Who doesn't want an underpaid servant ready to do your bidding? The main thing stopping me is the worry that it would be against the community spirit of the house. We all have to do our part with chores and cooking the weekly house meal. The last thing I want is to be seen as a bad apple and get kicked out of the house for not being "community oriented" enough.

This Saturday was house cleaning day. From 10am to 6pm, everyone had to clean and complete needed maintenance projects on the house. If you couldn't be there, you had to make up those hours later. Well, I work on Saturdays, so I put in as many hours as I could but still had time to make up. Last night I put in some time waxing the kitchen floors and stamping "Return to Sender" on a giant pile of mail that had come for former residents. But when that was all over I still had about 2 hours to go. The house manager asked that I put down two more layers of wax on the floor this evening. I really wanted to get some homework done, so I asked her if it would be bad form for me to pay someone to do it. I think in real life she just shrugged, but in my head she gave me a disapproving look and said "That is between you and God."

Well, dear readers, I did it. I knocked on the door of one of the MVSers and offered her $20 to do my work. I'm feeling half guilty, and half ready to burst into an evil laugh. I ended up getting a lot of homework done, but I also started to notice that my shelves could use a good cleaning. A good cleaning that I certainly don't have time for...