One day, rope and scaffoldings began to appear near the base of my building. No one ever used them, though.

I would walk past them on my way in and out wondering why anyone would go through the trouble of putting all of that equipment out there for nothing. After a few days, window cleaners started making appearances in the elevators, but I never saw them get out, only up.

They were setting the rigs up on the roof of my building. Looking out my window at the roof across from mine, I could see what the rigs looked like. But for the next few days they just sat there unused.

A strange tapping sound woke me up one morning. It was the sound of rope against my window. I opened the blinds and looked down to find someone’s rising head.

Jose Madris, a JT Window Works employee coming from the 7th floor window below mine, was standing on a suspended scaffold that was actually suspended for once. He sprayed down the exterior window with a cleaning solution before starting to squeegee.

I wondered why there was no warning about JT Window Works coming to clean. What if I was naked? They’d have the perfect view if my blinds were open.

A few days later, a note appeared on my door explaining how the window cleaners would be coming and that I should close my blinds.

My window was not dirty, but Madris’ silhouette was a welcome rarity.