Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cymro]

For a country that is seemingly so concerned about health and people's well-being (a term that is much of a trend these days), why are broom sticks only a couple of feet long, forcing sweepers to adopt a terribly uncomfortable and, surely, unhealthy position that so many of Korea's old and hard-worked women are permanently fixed in?

It's nothing against Korea, just one of those things that just doesn't make sense to me. I've just swept my apartment and I terribly need to lie down. Can someone explain?

The only reason I can think of is that, unknown to anyone, DiskDoctor has a monopoly of the Korean broom market and keeps them short to ruin people's backs and sell more of their spine supports.

[d503]

sorry i searched high and low and found a tall broom so i am enjoying back friendly sweeping. Also its most likely just a left over from a traditional broom of some sort, also probably why they are so wide

[Randall Flagg]

This is a question that has perplexed me for quite some time now. I have asked many Koreans and have had nary an explanation. The only thing I can think of is that since ajummas are expected to do the cleaning and since most are already stuck with their backs at a 90 degree angle the brooms fit them just perfect.

[ajuma]

It's possible (does anyone remember reading the book "The Ugly American"?) that brooms were made out of available material, and the longest, sturdy "handle" was from a short bush, hence the short broom.

What irks me the most though, is that when MEN sweep, they have long-handled brooms!!! Go figure!

[keithinkorea]

You can find long handled brooms and mops if you look around. I tend to think that the reason that most of them are so small is that they are designed for the social subclass that is the poor halmoni. You see them walking around almost bent in two and they got to be at least 90 years old - or at least look it.

Another manifestation of the 'poor halmoni' is what I direspectfully call the 'rubbish grannies-grandpas' who spend their time picking up crap of the street and daring the crazy Seoul traffic with handcarts stacked with cardboard, bottles, bat poop or whatever. I'd like to see some provision so that old people need not do rubbish duty, good knows it would do some of my pre middle and middle school students a bit of good to be on 'crap detail' once in a while instead of wasting away their time on Starcraft, also the ajoshi and ajummas could join in picking up cigarette buts and wiping up their gob messes.

On another note the coolest thing I've seen being sold on the subway were slippers that doubled as floor cleaners! Fantastic invention and I wish I'd have thought of it first. Don't know if they work though as I had to get off before able to make a purchase. Does anyone own one of these things, if so a review of their performance is in order.

[captain kirk]

Enquiring minds want to know. Never much thought about 'why?'. Koreans are great at squatting. Maybe that makes it easier to bend over, who knows? Lots of bending over tending rice fields. Maybe it's reminiscent of the noble profession, bending over sweeping. Brings back memories, like. Or maybe their husbands find it sexy, laying back patriarchically at ease watching their wives bent over sweeping the house.

[canadian_in_korea]

I complain about the broom everytime I sweep the floor. I have noticed that my boyfriend's sister and most people I have visited... have a vacuum for the floor not a broom..... When I asked my boyfriend.."why are the brooms so small?! No wonder so many older women have back problems!" He didn't really know....just said...."its only for sweeping, maybe we need to get a vacuum". So we are going to get a vacuum. Woo Hoo!!..

[Ya-ta Boy]

My theory: Even if you straightened those old ladies up, they would still be pretty darn short. I think the brooms would probably be no stretch for them.

[peppermint]

yes butrecent generations are getting much taller. I've got a lot of students in grade 6 that are as tall as I am, and I'm average height in Canada.

[JongnoGuru]

Ode to My Trusty Short-handled Broom
In Defence of Stoop Labour

Oh, short-handled broom of mine --
Your diminutive stature and your...
well, let's be honest, your plasticky cheapness and hideous-coloured bristles,
They only belie an inner beauty, a light & nimble form,
and a wonderous stowability in my shoe cabinet.

How I love the way you reach all those tight crevices
between, beneath and behind the desks, the fridge, the bookcases
and a bunch of other heavy things that the hoover nozzle is too fat to get past,
Or I'm just too lazy to move out of the way.

And who wouldn't appreciate your flexibility, indoors and out!
Dust, hair, ash & dead flies from the floors inside,
then leaves and snow from the walkway, the roof and the drains.
True, you don't do so well on fine dust particles, but that's what a damp mop is for.

Sure, I could have bought 200 just like you
for what I spent on that noisy german contraption,
And yes, the vender was a lowlife for lying about the availability of dustbags refills.
It's just that sweeping big rooms with you tires me out.
But never you fear I might neglect you.
Even when your handgrip cracked and broke off,
I didn't toss you out, did I?
That handgrip didn't really work all that well, anyway.

So what if you're the broom of choice of the hunchbacked-halmoni set?
And as long as there is dust and leaves and snow,
you've got a full-time job at my house.

[hojucandy]

i love the short broom - it takes up less space... my apart is so small that there is no space for a big broom, and the time spent bending over sweeping in only about 45 seconds to sweep the entire room...

short brooms are the norm all over the pacific and asia. in png they are made of natural materials.

long brooms - who needs them. helathy people can handle a bit of bending over.

i'd like a vaccuum cleaner however - one of those water ones. i am allergic to dust....

[hellofaniceguy]

Why? Because it's monkey see, monkey do. That's they way it's been done in korean for many centuries and so...why change it? Same with putting a water outlet on the outside of a building. I have yet to see a water faucet where someone can scrw on their hose to the faucet! You'll see instead the hose it slipped onto the nozzel and tied with a piece of wire!!! What is wrong with making a hose and nozzels with the connections?

[thorin]

You won't have to worry about this anymore if you just get a vacuum.

[manlyboy]

[TJ]