So many questions

[boffenl]

Sorry I'm so forgettable, guess I haven't posted as much as I'd thought. Welcome to the Expats Forum! No pulled punches here.

[aussiemeg]

Loving the discussion so here is my $2 worth.

I come from a younger country than the US and we are well aware of our history and also I am particularly aware that it was not until 1976 that our indigenous people were allowed to vote.

But back to the subject of maids. Hmmm how many of us have thought about reaching out and adopting that poor third world child.

We welcome a mature and lovely adult into our home who we treat with respect and kindness and also pay her what she deserves (not the norm in singapore). She works for me but loves my kids. She works to pay for her sister to go through medical school and also to build up her mother's cow herd. She came to a foreign country, learned two foreign languages, and a lifestyle completely foreign to her own without resentment or malice. We have sent her to cooking classes because she loves to cook and she is now internet capable and microsoft office proficient. (She is our second maid the first had also learned israeli and arabic but left to get married after buying her own house something she never would have achieved in her own country. )

Is having a maid or helper as we prefer that different to having the mexican lady do the cleaning in texas?

People have their own reasons for being here. Just like your bangladeshi gardeners and your burmese tradesman. Is the world fair? Is hunger shared equally over the globe? Do aids drugs reach the world's most needy or are the controlled by a pharmaceutical agreement? Is the environment respected equally by every nation? As I understand civil rights is about respecting people as your equal and enabling people to make informed choices. THat does nto undermine the employee employer relationship.

Just to throw a shammy in the works (auusie saying) that is why the US now has the opportunity to vote for a black man or a female vice president or a waspy president.

Off my high horse
Megan

[road.not.taken]

We welcome a mature and lovely adult into our home who we treat with respect and kindness and also pay her what she deserves (not the norm in singapore). She works for me but loves my kids. She works to pay for her sister to go through medical school and also to build up her mother's cow herd. She came to a foreign country, learned two foreign languages, and a lifestyle completely foreign to her own without resentment or malice. We have sent her to cooking classes because she loves to cook and she is now internet capable and microsoft office proficient. (She is our second maid the first had also learned israeli and arabic but left to get married after buying her own house something she never would have achieved in her own country. )

Very well put Megan.

[Answers?]

........... but I know well your overbearing attitude.

no doubt. like looking at a reflection in a mirror.

[road.not.taken]

........... but I know well your overbearing attitude.

no doubt. like looking at a reflection in a mirror.

ba-dum, tush!

Barbs aside, was there something else you'd like to add?

[boffenl]

GREAT reply aussiemeg. I know a few families who have really bonded with their helpers and have made her life incomparably richer in the process. But I've also seen the harsher side and it's black and blue and bloody.

You have made the most of the situation by teaching and learning with your helper--Kudos. I know your good karma will come back and bless you equally in the future. I just wish there were more like you! We could get into a long debate about the merits of remittances to their home country (an awesome force not even closely rivaled by foreign economic assistance!) but I think your reply was spot on!