I understand tidying before a cleaning lady cleans so she can do the annoying stuff like vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms and things, and I don't mind picking stuff up. Plus while I myself have never had a cleaning lady, I have heard stories from relatives who do, in California most often cleaning ladies speak little or no English, so communication is rather difficult. My uncle had a cleaning lady who would throw away anything that wasn't put away. He had to go through the garbage after she left. He once found in the garbage his plane tickets, some other important papers, and an unopened jar of pickles. Going through the trash sounds like more work than just cleaning myself.

What I really don't understand is why people wash their dishes before they put them in the dishwasher. Isn't that what the dishwasher is for? And it's not like the dishwasher is going to think badly of your cleaning skills if you give it dirty dishes. (I wouldn't ever worry about what a cleaning lady thinks of my cleaning skills. What do I care what she thinks?)