Our women are logical beings. World over there are discussions on minimum wages. Even in India, there are plans afoot to regulate wages and leave for maids who do house work.
But in our locality, women got together for something totally different. Same topic, but with a different spirit.
While social minded citizens want to ensure that minimum wages are paid, middle class women met to ensure no one paid the maids more, and create an increase in their pay. In other words, they want to fix maximum wages. They requested everyone in the locality to pay the same so that some maids will not compare themselves with others and ask for an increased pay.
Now I am not taking a superior position here. I am not a benevolent mistress. I don't have a maid. I did try hiring one, thinking that I was providing employment to someone, and it was a good way to keep house. But the maid thought I was too soft, started coming very late, at odd hours, starting from two in the afternoon, to any time later.I would have cleaned and washed up before she came.I felt that she and her girls were laughing at me. So I realized I did not possess enough mistressing skills, and got rid of her.
I am a mere observer from far away, of this drama, and not a qualified commentator.From what I see around me, in spite of all the houses in our gated community being identical, the work in each of them is different. In some house there are just two people, while in some there are three generations of extended family, that plays hosts to a steady stream of relatives. Lots of activity in some, very less in others. Cooking, tea making, cooking, juice making more cooking, lots more of cleaning and washing up. Some yuppies and really old people just order in or eat out. Not much work there. Some people adore their homes, gardens and get people to clean it better than professionals. A few people like me think talking to maids and getting them to work is hard work, and let them do stuff, as they wish. Some very hard working pros may want to pay more since they want to ensure there is help around.
How can we have uniform maximum wages?
But in our locality, women got together for something totally different. Same topic, but with a different spirit.
While social minded citizens want to ensure that minimum wages are paid, middle class women met to ensure no one paid the maids more, and create an increase in their pay. In other words, they want to fix maximum wages. They requested everyone in the locality to pay the same so that some maids will not compare themselves with others and ask for an increased pay.
Now I am not taking a superior position here. I am not a benevolent mistress. I don't have a maid. I did try hiring one, thinking that I was providing employment to someone, and it was a good way to keep house. But the maid thought I was too soft, started coming very late, at odd hours, starting from two in the afternoon, to any time later.I would have cleaned and washed up before she came.I felt that she and her girls were laughing at me. So I realized I did not possess enough mistressing skills, and got rid of her.
I am a mere observer from far away, of this drama, and not a qualified commentator.From what I see around me, in spite of all the houses in our gated community being identical, the work in each of them is different. In some house there are just two people, while in some there are three generations of extended family, that plays hosts to a steady stream of relatives. Lots of activity in some, very less in others. Cooking, tea making, cooking, juice making more cooking, lots more of cleaning and washing up. Some yuppies and really old people just order in or eat out. Not much work there. Some people adore their homes, gardens and get people to clean it better than professionals. A few people like me think talking to maids and getting them to work is hard work, and let them do stuff, as they wish. Some very hard working pros may want to pay more since they want to ensure there is help around.
How can we have uniform maximum wages?
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