We've been here in Bangkok for about three weeks now, and John and I are contemplating what we're going to do about the household help situation. It's wonderful to live in a place where domestic help is affordable, because -- let's be honest -- I don't want to scrub toilets if I don't have to, but also because it's one way we can contribute something to the local economy. It's also extremely helpful to have a native in the house when you're trying to navigate the insanity that is the Third World. It's true that we do a lot of travel and touring, but we're actually living here, and that's serious business.
When you hire household help, though, you take on major responsibility.
Here's a picture of Samuel with Joseph, who did housecleaning and babysitting for us in Chennai. In the left of the picture you can see Gopal, who cooked and generally ran the kitchen. Samuel loved them both and misses them (as we all do). As their employers, John and I became involved in Gopal and Joseph's lives in a way that doesn't really happen in the States. We were their sole source of income. In a country with limited health care and even more limited insurance options, we were also a health insurance company of sorts. We helped Gopal get through cataract surgery, and when Joseph's wife, Queen Mary, had a stillborn baby, we offered monetary support and visited her in the hospital.
So deciding whether to hire and whom to hire is a big deal. I felt a bit overwhelmed in India, because we had an actual staff -- cook, housecleaner, gardener, driver. Too many people hanging around the house, no matter how much I like them. Bangkok is much easier to navigate than was Chennai, too, so we've decided not to hire a driver here. Our housing compound has its own gardeners, so we don't have to worry about that, either. So now the decision is whether we're going to hire full time or part time inside the house. Since I've been having a great time experimenting with local cooking, I think we're going to try part time first and see how it goes. I hope we find someone as nice as Joseph.
When you hire household help, though, you take on major responsibility.
Here's a picture of Samuel with Joseph, who did housecleaning and babysitting for us in Chennai. In the left of the picture you can see Gopal, who cooked and generally ran the kitchen. Samuel loved them both and misses them (as we all do). As their employers, John and I became involved in Gopal and Joseph's lives in a way that doesn't really happen in the States. We were their sole source of income. In a country with limited health care and even more limited insurance options, we were also a health insurance company of sorts. We helped Gopal get through cataract surgery, and when Joseph's wife, Queen Mary, had a stillborn baby, we offered monetary support and visited her in the hospital.
So deciding whether to hire and whom to hire is a big deal. I felt a bit overwhelmed in India, because we had an actual staff -- cook, housecleaner, gardener, driver. Too many people hanging around the house, no matter how much I like them. Bangkok is much easier to navigate than was Chennai, too, so we've decided not to hire a driver here. Our housing compound has its own gardeners, so we don't have to worry about that, either. So now the decision is whether we're going to hire full time or part time inside the house. Since I've been having a great time experimenting with local cooking, I think we're going to try part time first and see how it goes. I hope we find someone as nice as Joseph.
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