AirBnB Guy
3 de abril de 2017
Eight Units & No History
(Gentrification is not a vibe)
“We have a new real estate company and we’ll need you to join our team of cleaners. All you have to do is come clean after some guests check out and before the next guests check in. Easy cleaning—nothing deep.”
I nod slowly.
Me: “Oh, like Airbnb?”
He pauses.
“No no—this is legit. We’re a real estate company. We bought a couple of buildings on this street. It's more like... hostels, you know?”
(He says "legit" like Airbnb is an illegal trap house. I clock that.)
“Actually, we need you to take care of 8 units.”
That number echoes.
Eight.
Eight units.
How many families once lived here?
How many tamales were steamed in these kitchens?
How many kids learned to ride their bikes on this very sidewalk?
As we walk up the stairs, I pause to admire the worn but beautiful woodwork.
Me:
“Woah. These stairs are original, right? How old is this building?”
Him:
“No idea.”
Me:
“Is this a Polish building?”
Him:
“Good question.”
Me:
“Uff—what a lovely skylight. I wonder if that’s original?”
Him:
“Not that important.”
(Sigh.)
Me:
“You know... you could Google that. Just saying.”
He laughs.
I don’t.
Because I know what’s happening here.
This isn’t just “light cleaning.”
This is cultural erasure dressed in IKEA furniture.
This is a neighborhood being flipped like it’s a bad mattress in a college dorm.
And I’ve seen it too many times.
Airbnb Guy (because yes, let’s be honest, that’s what he is) has clearly bought more than eight units.
He doesn’t know the history of this block.
He doesn’t care who lived here, what language they spoke, what holidays they celebrated, or who died on those stairs.
He doesn’t see the dented doorknob and wonder what kind of child liked to slam the door.
He doesn’t see the skylight and wonder what grandmother once stood under it, quietly sipping her café.
He doesn’t see the ghost of the community that built this place.
But I do.
Because I clean it.
Because I walk into these empty, echoing rooms and feel what’s missing.
Because I come from a people whose homes were called “less valuable,” then bought out, gutted, and rebranded as a vibe.
It is so easy to dishonor a community’s history.
It’s even easier when you don’t bother to ask about it.
Gentrification isn’t just a process.
It’s an erasure.
A dismembering.
And a lie told with clean sheets and keyless locks.
So no, I’m not impressed.
I’m tired.
And still—I climb the stairs.
I see the skylight.
And I remember for all of us.
#DiasporaStories
#GentrificationIsViolence
#InvisibleLabor
#CleaningChronicles
#AirbnbAesthetic
#LatinxWorkerTruth
#ArchitectureTellsStories
#HouseCleaningIsWitness
#NotJustDust
#NeighborhoodsAreNotVibes
#FromPRToChicago
#CulturalMemoryMatters
#WorkingClassWisdom
#DontCallMeIllCallYou
#SacredSpacesErased
#HostelsInDisguise
#SkylightWitness
#BoricuaInTheDiaspora
#BuiltByUsStolenByThem
#CleaningForTheColonizers
