In this case it wasn't a matter of being messy or not messy, he was explicitly cleaning up things that a maid would normally do - like straightening out the bed - before the maid got there.
As a side note, the couple were lawyers, which only matters in it was mentioned in the columnist's response
He said that when the revolts came and the lawyers were thrown down and the maids all rose up, that the husband would be one of the ones saved because all the maids remembered his good deeds
But really, he said, maids already have a really rough job and slave in bad conditions for little money. They deserve all the help they can get, and the husband was a good soul for giving that help.
I tend to agree here. I neaten up the blankets and organize the trash before the maids get there, to make their job easier. I can't empty the trash or scrub the toilets - I don't have tools to do those things - and I imagine even if they left a scrubbie behind the toilet I probably wouldn't go to that extreme. But I do gather up all the trash into the bin and mostly make the bed so that their tasks are easier.
Bob takes it to a different extreme. If we stay in a room for multiple days he doesn't want the maid in there at all, he just cleans things himself until we leave. So in that sense the maid gets a few days off
