This is one of my favorite episodes of the series, mostly because it teaches a very important, very rare life lesson about working. See, I have a job in my college--it's not exactly a formal job, and I guess the best way to describe it is part-time. I'm a studio assistant (I basically go around the printmaking studio lab and wipe down the marble slabs and put away print screens that have finished drying overnight) and it's for an hour every weekday.
I consider my job to be honorable in the sense that it is valuable work that will benefit others. Sure, it may not be glamorous, but the work that I do ensures a clean and tidy environment for the printmaking classes. Somebody has to keep the room clean, and its not fair to expect the students to always watch what they're doing because overtime, places get dirty. And I like my job, too, so that's a plus.
The point is that no matter what job you have, no matter how insignificant it may seem, it serves a purpose. And nobody should feel bad about the job that they have. Could you imagine going to a clothes store and trying to find a blouse in your size if no one was there to organize the shirts?
This week's episode begins rather calmly, with a plastic bag floating in the late autumn wind, smacking into the face of the statue Miranda vandalized in the Halloween episode. We find out that Lois and a bunch of her colleagues are on strike due to shitty wages in her extremely highly-stressful job. Boy, isn't that the story of most Americans. There are picket signs in the backseat of her car, so you know she means business.
The scene transitions to the school hallway, where the trio drools over the class trip to New York City. Even Macie is excited to go, as even a potential nosebleed climbing to the top of the Statue of Liberty is worth the trip. Ms. Zorski comes by to remind the girls that their $50 fee for the trip is due soon. Only $50? I'm sure it's for gas and lunch and stuff, but if you're going to New York City--the most expensive city in the Goddamn country--you're going to need more than just one Grant for souvenirs alone.
Sometime later, Lois drones on about her failed attempts at striking due to unreasonable negotiations. Lois basically drops the ball on Ginger by revealing that they don't have two pennies to rub together, so there's no way Ginger is going to go to Lois for money for the class trip. I really like how the show brings up realistic concepts here. I don't remember any other Nickelodeon show (besides Hey Arnold) that brings up the subject of money in an adult context. Usually it's the kids who are poor and the adults want them to earn money for themselves, but just seeing how Lois--the breadwinner of the family--is strapped for cash and outright says so really shows the maturity of the show.
Lois needs to start making some money soon, so she gets some inspiration from Carl and Hoodsey's vampire cleaning service from the Camp Caprice episode to start her own house cleaning business. Honestly, there are plenty of other ways Lois can make money--she's a nurse, which means she's college-educated, so she could get an office job or something like that to bring in money. But, she decides she wants to go the housekeeping route. Whatever. Ginger's greatly disturbed by this, and we can see that she's visibly uncomfortable. She's like, "But cleaning is dangerous. You could hurt yourself. You have to lift up furniture to clean under it." And by now it's pretty clear that it's just a cover-up to her embarrassment with her mother taking on a lesser job and having everyone know about it. But Lois doesn't give a fuck.
She had sent Carl out to put up flyers for her service, and Ginger still complains. "But everyone will see them." And Lois is like, "Hell yeah, they will." I understand what's going on here--Ginger doesn't want people at school to think Ginger's mom is a loser or something for being a housekeeper because it's not as fancy as being a nurse. And if people find out that her mom is cleaning houses instead of doing more "empowering" work, it'll embarrass the hell out of her. Fuck you, Ginger. Let Lois do what she wants.
Hoodsey helps Carl put up Lois' flyers, and on the walk around the neighborhood,he comes face-to-face with a golden retriever in someone's car. And she jumps out of the car for a lick-down.
Suddenly, Principal Milty comes round the corner with a bag of groceries screaming, "Don't you dare hurt my Princess!" Sir, would you like to order a subscription to Anger Management Monthly?
He's disappointed when he realizes it's just Carl and Hoodsey because now he won't get to use his old man karate to shoo them away, unless he wants Lois and Joanne to come down to the school and yell at him for beating up their ten-year-old sons. For jumping out and tackling Hoodsey for loves, Carl offers Milty his dog training services, which makes him understandably skeptical. What experience does Carl have with dogs, especially when his ran away? But he manages to convince Milty enough so that he's now responsible for teaching The Duchess to be more civilized.
It's been a week since Lois began her services, and the calls keep coming in. Either there are a lot of filthy houses in Sheltered Shrubs or people are too busy to keep up with their cleaning. Ginger is still crying herself to sleep over the fact that her mother is working and making money, and even Dodie and Macie don't see anything wrong with what Lois is doing. But Ginger's just like, "Wahhh, my mom's supposed to be a nurse, not a house cleaner! And now everyone's gonna know. Waahhhh." She tells Dodie and Macie that she's afraid that people will start pitying her, even though Lois is apparently making a killer salary with her business. Tell me, what is the problem, here? Maybe it's just because I'm not a preteen anymore. Maybe I'm past that prime where I care about what people think of every aspect of my life. Should I cut Ginger some slack?
Courtney and Miranda are literally right behind her; I'm surprised they're not eavesdropping on the trio's conversation. Because that's like their thing.
The final bell rings, and right as everyone files out the door to leave, Ms. Zorski pulls Ginger over to ask how Lois is doing since the strike has kept her out of work. She's been watching the news and is a little concerned. Meanwhile, Miranda hangs back to eavesdrop on their conversation. Why am I not surprised?
Ms. Zorski reminds Ginger that the price of the trip to New York City is pretty steep, but Ginger tells her that she's not worried because Lois has money now. Immediately, we cut to a scene at home where Lois is folding laundry (and I'm not sure if it's their laundry or someone else's) and tells Ginger that she can't afford to give her the money for the trip. But Ginger's like, "But if I don't go, everyone will think I'm--" She doesn't say it for politically correct reasons, I'm sure, but she implies that people will think that she's poor. And then Ginger says, "But you've been getting calls in left and right," only for Lois to reply that she can only do so much with the two hands she has.
Then, Lois gets an idea--she suggests that Ginger help her clean houses after school so that they can get more done, but Ginger doesn't like the idea of being a "cleaning lady." Seeing as it's the only way Ginger will be able to go to the city, she reluctantly agrees to do it.
The next day, Ginger and Lois finish their shopping for a full grocery cart of cleaning supplies from a dollar store, and Ginger fucking sprints straight to the car to avoid anyone seeing her. Can I slap this girl? Seriously, can I? She's really getting on my fucking nerves.
She grabs the car keys out of Lois' hand, throws the bags in the back seat, and leaps into the car. Even Lois is like, "Calm the hell down. You look like you just robbed the place." Ginger takes a moment to breathe as Lois returns the shopping cart to the front of the store.
As if she wasn't terrified out of her mind already, she spots Courtney and Miranda walking towards the store, fearful that they would see Lois' flyer on the back of her car. Why the hell would Courtney and Miranda be at a dollar store? I thought they were too good for that. Ginger takes the flyer and crumples it in her hand before the girls see it. Lois hops into the car, wondering what happened to her sign, but Ginger makes up a lie and tells her to drive. Lois considers creating a name for her business, and of course Ginger doesn't like that idea because that would make the business permanent. I really don't know why Ginger's behavior doesn't bother Lois. If she was my daughter and was doing that, I'd make her walk home, because apparently she's above riding in a Toyota.
In the doghouse, Carl and Hoodsey fail to teach The Duchess to play dead. They get into a little argument about how to run the business while The Duchess sits there with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Not a care in the world. I wish I could be a dog. Just for one day. I really want to know what makes them so damn happy all the time.
We cut back to Lois and Ginger cleaning their first house for the day, and Lois admits that she's actually glad that Ginger had come along since she's been feeling kind of lonely doing the job all by herself. D'aww.
When they get into the house, Ginger asks Lois if cleaning houses "embarrasses her," which is code for "I'm embarrassed myself that my mother has to resort to cleaning peoples' houses to get us by." Lois says that, although she misses her job, cleaning houses doesn't bother her. I guess this makes Ginger feel a little more at ease, so they start cleaning some weird sculpture and making jokes that gets them laughing. Aww, now this is what I like to see.
Sometime later, after they get the floor super shiny clean, Lois enlightens Ginger with an anecdote about the time she lived in New York City during nursing school. By day, a nursing student, by night a dancer in front of all the beatniks and poets and tourists. It's quite interesting to hear Lois talk about her past, because you would have never known such a wise woman like her had a lively young adulthood. Well, I guess it makes sense. In order to be wise, you must learn from experience.
All the mother-daughter bonding they've been doing has made Ginger more excited to work with Lois, and she's no longer embarrassed about cleaning houses with her anymore. She leaves Dodie and Macie hanging to run home so she can get to work cleaning. They stop by the dollar store to pick up more supplies and joke around even more. Ginger is so excited that now she's the one trying to come up with a name for their business, but Lois warns her that the job isn't permanent. Oh, how the tables have turned.
Just as we think this episode can end peacefully, Miranda rides past one of Lois' flyers and makes that evil face that she always makes, and belts out her signature evil laugh. But ugh--now I see why Ginger was so worried about the flyers. That is an embarrassing picture.
And we just know Miranda is going to use this little tidbit to her advantage. Need I say more?
What's hilarious is that a family nearby gets freaked out by Miranda's maniacal laughter that they take their children off the quarter ride and walk away slowly. As Miranda laughs her evil head off, the baby starts to cry. So fitting. I just think that's an awesome detail highlighting how fucking demonic this girl is.
At school, Macie mentions that Ginger already earned enough money for the trip and asks her why she's still cleaning houses. Ginger tells her that she just loves hanging out with Lois, and doesn't even mind the cleaning anymore. Dodie turns around and gushes that Ginger has achieved "friendship status" with Lois, which is odd for a preteen to be excited about, considering this is the age when most kids want to keep away from their parents. Miranda walks up to the trio and goes "Hiiiiiii Ginger" in a way that even Macie says is creepier than usual. I love these meta-moments on the show. I fucking love them! Miranda gets really sketchy when she mentions that the Griplings' maid has gone on "vacation" and are in "desperate need" of a professional cleaning service. And the way she says it makes me think she tied Winston and the crew in black garbage bags and pushed them off the edge of a bridge.
Ginger is totally onto Miranda's evil scheme, so she runs off without "recommending" Lois. I wonder why Miranda didn't ask for them to clean her own house. Lord knows her bedroom is probably thick with the smog of cthulhu farts. And just like that, Miranda vanishes into the crowd. No, she literally vanishes. Someone walks in front of her, and she just disappears. I swear I'm not just using hyperboles to describe her like I do with every other character. She. Is. The. Devil.
Ginger sinks into a mini-depression again knowing that Miranda is going to have Courtney call Lois to clean her McMansion, and how embarrassing that would be! To be honest, I don't think Courtney would mind, considering her dream is to meet Ginger's maker in the first place.
Carl gets jealous when he realizes Hoodsey is a better dog whisperer than he is.
And then once The Duchess is fully trained, there's a jazzy montage of Carl and Hoodsey teaching her more advanced tricks. Don't these kids have homework or something?
Ginger fails to convince Lois not to clean the Griplings' McMansion because the money is too good to pass up. Ginger gets desperate and says Miranda put Courtney up to it to make her feel bad, but Ginger should know by now that Courtney isn't a bitch. Stuck-up, yes, but not a bitch. But Lois says that they can't make her feel bad about it because she doesn't feel bad. And then she leaves. There you go, folks. Another reason why Lois is the most awesome mom on Nickelodeon.
Principal Milty is upset that he couldn't prove Carl and Hoodsey wrong, so he reaches into his pocket to give them the $20 they deserve. Through The Dutchess' eyes, we watch as she stares at Hoodsey eating a muffin, and then, for some reason, dives for Milty's antique chair and rips a big chunk of it out. Well, ain't that a twist?
Milty tells the boys the deal is off, but Carl and Hoodsey pull Milty into a loophole where they didn't verbally agree to cover inappropriate chewing. And then Carl threatens to take Milty to court for not giving them the money they deserve. Milty isn't scared of them, but Carl and Hoodsey say that the judges won't be able to resist their childish cuteness. Seeing as he won't win, he angrily forks over the money. Let's see Carl get away with his childish cuteness in about five years when his face starts getting fuzzy.
Courtney greets Lois with great pity, but Lois doesn't care. She tries to lay on the sympathy even thicker--going with Miranda's advice--but Lois is just like, "Hey, I'm making money. I'm doing okay." Ginger then swings by to join Lois, finally realizing that there's no shame in manual labor, even at the popular rich girl's McMansion. Miranda successfully brainwashes Courtney into reminding the Foutleys that they're basically nothing but housecleaners that shouldn't deserve to have money and have fun, only to be thwarted by her own reflection on her floor, something not even her own maids could do.
Courtney gushes at her reflection in the floor, so Miranda decides she's not going to pull Ginger down today. She ultimately gives up and crawls back into cthulhu's anus--I mean home to her room. You know, because what else is she going to do now?
So, apparently the trip to New York was a lot of fun. And now Ginger and Lois are closer than ever, all thanks to the nurses' strike.
Lessons Learned From This Episode: Don't be ashamed at the work you or your parents do; if you need a goal in life, be a dog.
I consider my job to be honorable in the sense that it is valuable work that will benefit others. Sure, it may not be glamorous, but the work that I do ensures a clean and tidy environment for the printmaking classes. Somebody has to keep the room clean, and its not fair to expect the students to always watch what they're doing because overtime, places get dirty. And I like my job, too, so that's a plus.
The point is that no matter what job you have, no matter how insignificant it may seem, it serves a purpose. And nobody should feel bad about the job that they have. Could you imagine going to a clothes store and trying to find a blouse in your size if no one was there to organize the shirts?
This week's episode begins rather calmly, with a plastic bag floating in the late autumn wind, smacking into the face of the statue Miranda vandalized in the Halloween episode. We find out that Lois and a bunch of her colleagues are on strike due to shitty wages in her extremely highly-stressful job. Boy, isn't that the story of most Americans. There are picket signs in the backseat of her car, so you know she means business.
The scene transitions to the school hallway, where the trio drools over the class trip to New York City. Even Macie is excited to go, as even a potential nosebleed climbing to the top of the Statue of Liberty is worth the trip. Ms. Zorski comes by to remind the girls that their $50 fee for the trip is due soon. Only $50? I'm sure it's for gas and lunch and stuff, but if you're going to New York City--the most expensive city in the Goddamn country--you're going to need more than just one Grant for souvenirs alone.
Sometime later, Lois drones on about her failed attempts at striking due to unreasonable negotiations. Lois basically drops the ball on Ginger by revealing that they don't have two pennies to rub together, so there's no way Ginger is going to go to Lois for money for the class trip. I really like how the show brings up realistic concepts here. I don't remember any other Nickelodeon show (besides Hey Arnold) that brings up the subject of money in an adult context. Usually it's the kids who are poor and the adults want them to earn money for themselves, but just seeing how Lois--the breadwinner of the family--is strapped for cash and outright says so really shows the maturity of the show.
Lois needs to start making some money soon, so she gets some inspiration from Carl and Hoodsey's vampire cleaning service from the Camp Caprice episode to start her own house cleaning business. Honestly, there are plenty of other ways Lois can make money--she's a nurse, which means she's college-educated, so she could get an office job or something like that to bring in money. But, she decides she wants to go the housekeeping route. Whatever. Ginger's greatly disturbed by this, and we can see that she's visibly uncomfortable. She's like, "But cleaning is dangerous. You could hurt yourself. You have to lift up furniture to clean under it." And by now it's pretty clear that it's just a cover-up to her embarrassment with her mother taking on a lesser job and having everyone know about it. But Lois doesn't give a fuck.
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| "Do you have any idea how many heavier-than-furniture patients I've lifted and cleaned under?" - Lois |
Hoodsey helps Carl put up Lois' flyers, and on the walk around the neighborhood,he comes face-to-face with a golden retriever in someone's car. And she jumps out of the car for a lick-down.
Suddenly, Principal Milty comes round the corner with a bag of groceries screaming, "Don't you dare hurt my Princess!" Sir, would you like to order a subscription to Anger Management Monthly?
 |
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| Look at that dog. She is so happy. I want to know how dogs see the world. |
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| Macie is so done with this conversation. |
The final bell rings, and right as everyone files out the door to leave, Ms. Zorski pulls Ginger over to ask how Lois is doing since the strike has kept her out of work. She's been watching the news and is a little concerned. Meanwhile, Miranda hangs back to eavesdrop on their conversation. Why am I not surprised?
Ms. Zorski reminds Ginger that the price of the trip to New York City is pretty steep, but Ginger tells her that she's not worried because Lois has money now. Immediately, we cut to a scene at home where Lois is folding laundry (and I'm not sure if it's their laundry or someone else's) and tells Ginger that she can't afford to give her the money for the trip. But Ginger's like, "But if I don't go, everyone will think I'm--" She doesn't say it for politically correct reasons, I'm sure, but she implies that people will think that she's poor. And then Ginger says, "But you've been getting calls in left and right," only for Lois to reply that she can only do so much with the two hands she has.
Then, Lois gets an idea--she suggests that Ginger help her clean houses after school so that they can get more done, but Ginger doesn't like the idea of being a "cleaning lady." Seeing as it's the only way Ginger will be able to go to the city, she reluctantly agrees to do it.
The next day, Ginger and Lois finish their shopping for a full grocery cart of cleaning supplies from a dollar store, and Ginger fucking sprints straight to the car to avoid anyone seeing her. Can I slap this girl? Seriously, can I? She's really getting on my fucking nerves.
She grabs the car keys out of Lois' hand, throws the bags in the back seat, and leaps into the car. Even Lois is like, "Calm the hell down. You look like you just robbed the place." Ginger takes a moment to breathe as Lois returns the shopping cart to the front of the store.
As if she wasn't terrified out of her mind already, she spots Courtney and Miranda walking towards the store, fearful that they would see Lois' flyer on the back of her car. Why the hell would Courtney and Miranda be at a dollar store? I thought they were too good for that. Ginger takes the flyer and crumples it in her hand before the girls see it. Lois hops into the car, wondering what happened to her sign, but Ginger makes up a lie and tells her to drive. Lois considers creating a name for her business, and of course Ginger doesn't like that idea because that would make the business permanent. I really don't know why Ginger's behavior doesn't bother Lois. If she was my daughter and was doing that, I'd make her walk home, because apparently she's above riding in a Toyota.
In the doghouse, Carl and Hoodsey fail to teach The Duchess to play dead. They get into a little argument about how to run the business while The Duchess sits there with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. Not a care in the world. I wish I could be a dog. Just for one day. I really want to know what makes them so damn happy all the time.
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| Dog thoughts: "Food, food, food, food...squirrel!" |
When they get into the house, Ginger asks Lois if cleaning houses "embarrasses her," which is code for "I'm embarrassed myself that my mother has to resort to cleaning peoples' houses to get us by." Lois says that, although she misses her job, cleaning houses doesn't bother her. I guess this makes Ginger feel a little more at ease, so they start cleaning some weird sculpture and making jokes that gets them laughing. Aww, now this is what I like to see.
Sometime later, after they get the floor super shiny clean, Lois enlightens Ginger with an anecdote about the time she lived in New York City during nursing school. By day, a nursing student, by night a dancer in front of all the beatniks and poets and tourists. It's quite interesting to hear Lois talk about her past, because you would have never known such a wise woman like her had a lively young adulthood. Well, I guess it makes sense. In order to be wise, you must learn from experience.
All the mother-daughter bonding they've been doing has made Ginger more excited to work with Lois, and she's no longer embarrassed about cleaning houses with her anymore. She leaves Dodie and Macie hanging to run home so she can get to work cleaning. They stop by the dollar store to pick up more supplies and joke around even more. Ginger is so excited that now she's the one trying to come up with a name for their business, but Lois warns her that the job isn't permanent. Oh, how the tables have turned.
Just as we think this episode can end peacefully, Miranda rides past one of Lois' flyers and makes that evil face that she always makes, and belts out her signature evil laugh. But ugh--now I see why Ginger was so worried about the flyers. That is an embarrassing picture.
And we just know Miranda is going to use this little tidbit to her advantage. Need I say more?
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| "So, Ginger's mother is cleaning houses. I hope she does windows." - Miranda |
At school, Macie mentions that Ginger already earned enough money for the trip and asks her why she's still cleaning houses. Ginger tells her that she just loves hanging out with Lois, and doesn't even mind the cleaning anymore. Dodie turns around and gushes that Ginger has achieved "friendship status" with Lois, which is odd for a preteen to be excited about, considering this is the age when most kids want to keep away from their parents. Miranda walks up to the trio and goes "Hiiiiiii Ginger" in a way that even Macie says is creepier than usual. I love these meta-moments on the show. I fucking love them! Miranda gets really sketchy when she mentions that the Griplings' maid has gone on "vacation" and are in "desperate need" of a professional cleaning service. And the way she says it makes me think she tied Winston and the crew in black garbage bags and pushed them off the edge of a bridge.
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| This snake would push Jesus off a bridge if she had the chance. |
Ginger sinks into a mini-depression again knowing that Miranda is going to have Courtney call Lois to clean her McMansion, and how embarrassing that would be! To be honest, I don't think Courtney would mind, considering her dream is to meet Ginger's maker in the first place.
Carl gets jealous when he realizes Hoodsey is a better dog whisperer than he is.
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| *Facepalm* |
Ginger fails to convince Lois not to clean the Griplings' McMansion because the money is too good to pass up. Ginger gets desperate and says Miranda put Courtney up to it to make her feel bad, but Ginger should know by now that Courtney isn't a bitch. Stuck-up, yes, but not a bitch. But Lois says that they can't make her feel bad about it because she doesn't feel bad. And then she leaves. There you go, folks. Another reason why Lois is the most awesome mom on Nickelodeon.
Principal Milty is upset that he couldn't prove Carl and Hoodsey wrong, so he reaches into his pocket to give them the $20 they deserve. Through The Dutchess' eyes, we watch as she stares at Hoodsey eating a muffin, and then, for some reason, dives for Milty's antique chair and rips a big chunk of it out. Well, ain't that a twist?
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| In this context, it does kind of look like a chocolate muffin with nuts. |
Courtney greets Lois with great pity, but Lois doesn't care. She tries to lay on the sympathy even thicker--going with Miranda's advice--but Lois is just like, "Hey, I'm making money. I'm doing okay." Ginger then swings by to join Lois, finally realizing that there's no shame in manual labor, even at the popular rich girl's McMansion. Miranda successfully brainwashes Courtney into reminding the Foutleys that they're basically nothing but housecleaners that shouldn't deserve to have money and have fun, only to be thwarted by her own reflection on her floor, something not even her own maids could do.
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| They're using dollar-store floor polish. How the hell can you make a floor that shiny with that? |
So, apparently the trip to New York was a lot of fun. And now Ginger and Lois are closer than ever, all thanks to the nurses' strike.
Lessons Learned From This Episode: Don't be ashamed at the work you or your parents do; if you need a goal in life, be a dog.
I think you could cut Ginger a little bit of slack. At that age what people think of you is everything. I'm in college too and at this point I've obviously learned that I would rather do some grunt work so I don't have to survive off of Ramen even if the job isn't glamorous. She really hasn't learned yet so I would give her a pass.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you go?????
ReplyDeleteDon't worry. I am back, and there will be a new review up tomorrow!
DeleteI am also missing your updates. I hope you return whenever you can :)
ReplyDeleteYour wish is granted. The reviews shall continue!
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