The Chore Chart

Harald found the first note on a Monday morning. It was taped to the chore chart on the fridge. It was written in angry green ink: "BATHROOM: HAS ANYONE CLEANED IT IN WEEKS? SOME OF US LIVE HERE TOO." Underneath, someone had drawn a small, sad sponge. He knew the handwriting. It was Sheila's.

Harald menemukan catatan pertama pada Senin pagi. Catatan itu ditempel di tabel jadwal piket di kulkas. Ditulis dengan tinta hijau yang penuh amarah: "KAMAR MANDI: ADA YANG SUDAH MEMBERSIHKANNYA DALAM BEBERAPA MINGGU INI? SEBAGIAN DARI KITA TINGGAL DI SINI JUGA." Di bawahnya, seseorang menggambar spons kecil yang tampak sedih. Ia kenal tulisan tangan itu. Itu tulisan Sheila.

He read it twice. Then he looked at the chart. His name stood next to "Bathroom" every Tuesday and Friday. The little boxes beside it were completely empty. He decided that the note was unfair. He wrote a short reply under it: "I'm doing my share!"

Ia membacanya dua kali. Lalu ia melihat tabel itu. Namanya tertulis di samping "Kamar Mandi" setiap Selasa dan Jumat. Kotak-kotak kecil di sebelahnya kosong sama sekali. Ia memutuskan bahwa catatan itu tidak adil. Ia menulis balasan singkat di bawahnya: "Aku sudah melakukan bagianku!"

The next morning, there was a second note. "Then why is the chart empty?" it asked. On Wednesday, there was a third one: "Four weeks, Harald. Four." By Thursday, the sponge had a tiny speech bubble that said, "Please."

Keesokan paginya, ada catatan kedua. "Kalau begitu, kenapa tabelnya kosong?" tanyanya. Pada hari Rabu, ada yang ketiga: "Empat minggu, Harald. Empat." Pada hari Kamis, spons itu punya gelembung ucapan mungil yang berbunyi, "Tolong."

Harald did not know what to do. He was not a person who usually argued. He worked at a bakery supplier's office, and he left the apartment before seven every morning. In the evenings, he was too tired to explain anything, so he just left more short notes.

Harald tidak tahu harus berbuat apa. Ia bukan orang yang biasanya suka berdebat. Ia bekerja di kantor sebuah pemasok bahan roti, dan ia meninggalkan apartemen sebelum pukul tujuh setiap pagi. Pada malam hari, ia terlalu lelah untuk menjelaskan apa pun, jadi ia hanya menambah catatan-catatan pendek.

On Friday night, Sheila was waiting for him in the kitchen with her arms crossed. The chart lay on the table between them.

Pada Jumat malam, Sheila sudah menunggunya di dapur dengan tangan bersedekap. Tabel itu tergeletak di meja di antara mereka.

"I have been very patient," she said. "But you cannot write that you are doing your share when you are clearly not."

"Aku sudah sangat sabar," katanya. "Tapi kamu tidak bisa menulis bahwa kamu sudah melakukan bagianmu padahal jelas belum."

"But I am," Harald said. "I clean it every Tuesday and Friday."

"Tapi aku sudah," kata Harald. "Aku membersihkannya setiap Selasa dan Jumat."

"I would have seen you."

"Aku pasti melihatmu."

"You wouldn't. I do it at six in the morning, before work, while you are asleep."

"Tidak akan. Aku melakukannya pukul enam pagi, sebelum berangkat kerja, saat kamu masih tidur."

Sheila stared at him. "You get up at six to scrub a bathroom?"

Sheila menatapnya. "Kamu bangun pukul enam untuk menggosok kamar mandi?"

"It is the only time I have. At night, I am too tired. And I am quiet, I promise. I even use the sink very softly."

"Itu satu-satunya waktu yang kupunya. Malam hari aku terlalu capek. Dan aku tenang kok, aku janji. Aku bahkan memakai wastafel dengan sangat pelan."

"Then why are the boxes empty?"

"Lalu kenapa kotak-kotaknya kosong?"

Harald looked at the chart, and then he started to laugh. "Because the pen lives in your room," he said. "It has lived there for a month. I did not want to wake you up."

Harald memandang tabel itu, lalu mulai tertawa. "Karena pulpennya ada di kamarmu," katanya. "Sudah sebulan di sana. Aku tidak mau membangunkanmu."

For a second, Sheila did not move. Then her face changed, and she began to laugh too. She laughed so hard that she had to hold on to the table. "I thought the bathroom was clean because we hardly use it," she said. "I have been angry at a clean bathroom for four weeks."

Sesaat, Sheila tak bergerak. Lalu wajahnya berubah, dan ia ikut tertawa. Ia tertawa begitu keras sampai harus berpegangan pada meja. "Kupikir kamar mandinya bersih karena kita hampir tidak memakainya," katanya. "Aku sudah marah pada kamar mandi yang bersih selama empat minggu."

"And I have been writing back to a sponge," Harald said.

"Dan aku sudah membalas surat dari sebuah spons," kata Harald.

Sheila wiped her eyes. She took the green pen from her pocket and bent over the chart. Then she ticked six boxes in a row.

Sheila menyeka matanya. Ia mengambil pulpen hijau dari sakunya dan membungkuk di atas tabel itu. Lalu ia mencentang enam kotak berturut-turut.