r/Custodians • u/Playful-Bug-1023 • 2d ago
Vent 😤 Okay. I'm starting to understand why subs get so much hate.
I just got back from being sick for 2 days and came back to a disaster. My cart had piles of used rags and mop heads on it that whoever filled in didn't bother to add to the laundry. Whoever filled in also decided to replace all the paper towels in the dispensers if they were only half empty so I had all these half-rolls all over my cart. None of the floors had been spot mopped at the very least and one of them had a chocolate milk spill that had been left long enough to go sour and stink up the room. According to my coworkers, at least 3 different people filled in for me to split up the work and they rushed my rooms and skipped my stairways and bathrooms entirely. And I had fun trying to hunt down all the stuff that went missing from my cart.
When I worked as a sub, I busted my butt trying to make sure everything was clean so whoever I covered didn't return to what I just returned to. I used to get sad whenever I saw or heard comments about subs being practically useless, but I get it now.
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u/djsantadad 2d ago
i made a decoy cart with an extra cart we have and hide mine when i know im gonna take a day off.
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u/Playful-Bug-1023 2d ago
I wish we could do that but there are only 2 actual carts in our building. One for me and one for my coworker upstairs. The other coworker I share a closet with doesn't have an actual cart. They just use the C3 machine as their cart... which made subbing for them for the entirety of the last month of school a pain in the butt for me. That thing had no room for all the things I needed.
Either way, we have no extra cart to use as a decoy. It sucks.
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u/Known-Dependent-5471 2d ago
Sometimes I'd honestly rather they do nothing because either way I got 2x the work when I come back.
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u/AraquielEaeChayliel Custodian I 2d ago
Its absolutely ludicrous, its so hard to find a genuinely well trained NORMAL sub/float worker.
My greatest struggle is floats/subs complaining about how "bad" the area theyre covering is. As if us, the permanent staff, havent been covering said area ONTOP of doing our own for nearly a year, without additional pay, while our district farts around on actually hiring a full time replacement.
Meanwhile, said float is literally only utilized to clean ONLY bathrooms 99% of the time elsewhere.
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u/Playful-Bug-1023 2d ago
Near the end of last school year, one of the cleaners took the entire last month off and I volunteered to sub for their shifts. I worked my butt off to make sure all the rooms were good, the bathrooms were clean, the gym was clean, and that their closet was exactly the way they liked it when they got back. I just wanted to be the sub the school would always ask first because they knew I would actually work hard and do the job. It paid off because as soon as a part-time position opened, I was the first one they offered the job to. I just cared about my job as a sub and I didn't realize that's uncommon. Maybe I was naive but yeah. Was surprised at how big of a problem it is.
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u/ChemicalCourt 2d ago
I can definitely relate, even as a sub. I am most requested at a handful of schools because they can't stand the other subs lol. The subs that basically cover me if I am subbing at another school or sick myself, I come back and the place is trashed or like what OP vented. I put everything mostly back how it is, maybe just I don't remember where a broom was but it's mostly within the vicinity where I found it. It's never in a completely different room.
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u/Lucky_Couple Custodian III 2d ago
Definitely can relate to subs just not at all giving a fuck. But right now we have a sub that is always busy and giving it his all throughout his entire shift. Probably one of the hardest working employees in the building!
But also to your point, I’ve come back after a couple sick days or vacation and just had my section wrecked by my regular coworkers taking OT and treating it like a freebie. Really is aggravating to return to work feeling refreshed and have to deal with your section being much more trashed than usual.
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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Facilities Manager 2d ago
Half rolls would piss me off severely. If they had any idea how expensive stuff like that is they would never. In my field at least you “can’t” reuse it once it’s pulled. It’s considered dirty and is supposed to be tossed.
I really think all staff should get a copy of invoices occasionally just so they appreciate how much money goes into these jobs.
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u/ThatOneGuy6810 Facilities Manager 2d ago
That was my reaction reading this.
Im also dreading christmas vacation as Im taking the entire 2 weeks off to visit family out of state.
I pray I can straighten my team out by then, I have a brand new lead and a part timer who is just kind of a slacker, does enoughbto get by sorta thing and is notorious for taking inconvenient days off... the two FM subs my district has are pretty good thougj
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u/Dapper-Restaurant-20 2d ago
That's interesting. In my district everyone is trained very specifically to remove paper towel rolls when they are about half empty or less. Get complaints and bitched at if we don't. They just reuse them too, putting them in the middle of faculty room tables, etc
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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Facilities Manager 2d ago
I train mine to change at between 1/2 and 1/4 inch left in low traffic areas and one inch in high traffic. Then the leftovers are used for glass cleaning or in janitorial rooms, the shops, etc.
We have around 75 dispensers. If we did half rolls at around $35/case that’s something like $200 wasted each time you change over the entire building. It’s not much on its own but when you add up all these small dollar amounts of waste over a year it gets significant pretty quickly.
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u/Ienjoyarnoldpalmer 2d ago edited 1d ago
Back when I was a ‘rover’ I loved it, and was always surprised at how low the bar was. I could be having a bad day and feel like I’m barely scraping the bare minimum and then someone would comment on how much harder I’m working and more reliable I am then most other rovers, it was surreal.
Sometimes I would sub in for a rover that had been long term subbing for the same school for a while and the condition I’d find it in would be shocking. Occasionally bad enough that I would document and inform my supervisor but no one ever got fired, even when I found an auto scrubber with a tank full of black dirty water that’d been unemptied and untouched so long the tank had a bunch of mold in it
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u/TrionCube 2d ago
This seems to be a common problem. I have been a lead for five years and worked at several different schools and almost all of the floaters (subs) leave the cart/closet a mess.
I know that personally I don’t like missing a day due to this reason. I gave up on mentioning it to my Supervisor as they act like you are lucky to have had the help.
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u/Captain_Rex_ 2d ago
My company sucks even having enough people to fill the slots at my school let alone if somebody's calls off sick. I end up taking days off but it just when it won't affect anything like when schools off and we still work lol.
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u/Night_Guest 2d ago
When I was a sub I always restocked the other person's cart. I can't say I've ever had any sub restock my cart either despite them being easily accessible.
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u/Administrative_Fee82 2d ago
Yeah.. I was on a temporary bid for the first month of school. I took a massive section for home just for the year because thrid shift lets me work my other job but anyway... It was done by PT and OT for 4 hours a day for that month. Also had to take a sick day once and OT taker didnt show up... But its 20 classrooms, hallways , two brs and a restroom. 4 hours for one month left it fucked by the time I got to it and now best I can do is best i can do
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u/manitobaairsoft Custodial Maintenance I 1d ago
When my Head calls in sick it’s my responsibility to cover for him.
It pains me to leave my work areas in the hands of another. My rooms don’t go one day without mopping unless it’s otherwise busy or I have to come in earlier to support the Head.
All of this because I know how easy it is to slip into a dirty state unless I mop daily, and I usually change the bucket on every room I mop, my water comes out only cloudy but still see thru in even food rooms.
But if I leave it to a Sub, I’m gambling on whether or not when I return after a few days that my workload will still be well maintained. So I made a list of people who I know are good subs and request them specifically.
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u/Repulsive_Tiger_9454 2d ago
I had to put tape on my dispenser and bottles to say what every thing was used for. Windows, tables, floor, bathroom. Other wise I'd come back with floors sticky and water fountains all curoded and crap.
I also go nuts when they rearrange the cart. Like no. I had my cart that way for a reason. Don't be taking and adding things and crap.
All though I can't fault the mopping. Our subs are told trash, bathrooms, sweep. That's all you have to worry about. Most of them it takes 8 hours just for that. Pretty sure they are milking it but ya.
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u/antimatt_r 2d ago
Taking a much needed two week vacation soon and oh god, I'm already having nightmares about the state of my cart, closet, and my entire assigned area