Housekeepers. My friend Prati in Mumbai just hired a new housekeeper, a gem for all I hear. She works, her husband works and they have a huge dog! The monsoon season just started and things were getting scary.... now she need worry any more! This just reminds me of one thing I truly think makes life so much easier...I maintain that Lucy, my housekeeper, is what I miss most about Curaçao!
Many of my friends, especially the ones that have never lived abroad, cannot understand why I miss this aspect of life in the Tropics! Really? A good housekeeper is a treasure, I have always said. Back home, my mother always had live-in help, in Curaçao I always did. It is part of life in many places around the world and not the evil that people tend to think it is......Never mind how many modern appliances I have at home, I have to do the work: load the washing machine, the dryer, the dishwasher. I cook and wash afterwards, I fold the clothing and make the beds, I dust and vacuum...
I'm sorry, but I would prefer someone else to do that. Do I sound callous? what to do. Are you sure you wouldn't want that too? Most people here work full time, husband and wife. Weekends are a never ending marathon of chores they didn't have time to do or finish during the week. If they entertain at home, they will be preparing for days or so busy on the day that they can hardly enjoy the whole event...of course there are exceptions. I know of incredible organized women that can do anything effortlessly....not many though. A good housekeeper would take care of all that..that's just part of the job.
Talking of which, many of the people that cannot understand, tend to think that housekeepers are just helpers, someone that is there to do what you cannot do or finish anything you couldn't. Well, NEEE, they are there to do the things you prefer not to do, to get all housework finished and all cooking done and all laundry organized. It is a job like any other.
My paternal grandmother, who lived to be 98, taught me that the world has to have everything to be able to work. She compared it to a hand: not all the fingers are the same, she pointed out. We need thumbs, and index fingers and even our pinky has a task. If all fingers were the same, the hand would not work!! I thought that was brilliant.
So I am really sorry I cannot get a live-in housekeeper here. Especially now, that age is catching up with me: I have bursitis on my right shoulder and my whole arm hurts at times...... My doctor wold like me to rest the arm for a few days and then start therapy. Good luck! Once more I am reminded that not every aspect of Life in the Tropics applies to Miami, no matter what the tourist trade wants us to believe....
Many of my friends, especially the ones that have never lived abroad, cannot understand why I miss this aspect of life in the Tropics! Really? A good housekeeper is a treasure, I have always said. Back home, my mother always had live-in help, in Curaçao I always did. It is part of life in many places around the world and not the evil that people tend to think it is......Never mind how many modern appliances I have at home, I have to do the work: load the washing machine, the dryer, the dishwasher. I cook and wash afterwards, I fold the clothing and make the beds, I dust and vacuum...
I'm sorry, but I would prefer someone else to do that. Do I sound callous? what to do. Are you sure you wouldn't want that too? Most people here work full time, husband and wife. Weekends are a never ending marathon of chores they didn't have time to do or finish during the week. If they entertain at home, they will be preparing for days or so busy on the day that they can hardly enjoy the whole event...of course there are exceptions. I know of incredible organized women that can do anything effortlessly....not many though. A good housekeeper would take care of all that..that's just part of the job.
Talking of which, many of the people that cannot understand, tend to think that housekeepers are just helpers, someone that is there to do what you cannot do or finish anything you couldn't. Well, NEEE, they are there to do the things you prefer not to do, to get all housework finished and all cooking done and all laundry organized. It is a job like any other.
My paternal grandmother, who lived to be 98, taught me that the world has to have everything to be able to work. She compared it to a hand: not all the fingers are the same, she pointed out. We need thumbs, and index fingers and even our pinky has a task. If all fingers were the same, the hand would not work!! I thought that was brilliant.
So I am really sorry I cannot get a live-in housekeeper here. Especially now, that age is catching up with me: I have bursitis on my right shoulder and my whole arm hurts at times...... My doctor wold like me to rest the arm for a few days and then start therapy. Good luck! Once more I am reminded that not every aspect of Life in the Tropics applies to Miami, no matter what the tourist trade wants us to believe....
2 comments:
Aww Merc... I completely agree with you. Housekeepers have a job, like everyone else. But it's a job unlike any other. I am so glad I have a housekeeper. Life had become really hectic; a never ending cycle of office work and house-chores.
Shanti, my housekeeper's name means Peace. Amen!
That is how I feel now: never ending cycle......
How appropriate! Peace is indeed what I need!
The time will come!
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