Housekeeping, or the Lack Thereof

The housekeepers are here.

It's an odd feeling to be an employer, although it's one that I've dealing with for the last month. We don't employ Shelly's driver -- the company does -- but we do employ the pool cleaner and the gardener. And now we employ two housekeepers.

We're actually just borrowing Myra and Marlene from one of Shelly's coworkers, and they'll just be here a couple half-days a week. As I type, Marlene is cleaning the kitchen and Myra is vacuuming upstairs, the gardener is working outside and a couple of people who work for our landlord are here installing towel racks, fixing the garbage disposal and a taking care of a few other miscellaneous chores.

Ah, the joy of not cleaning my own house.

Frankly, I'm glad to give up most of the work, but when Shelly and I were listing all the chores we wanted to pay someone else to do, I found myself in a strange position. "Doing laundry is my job," I said. "Emptying the trash is my job." When Marlene started cleaning the kitchen this morning, I started helping her put the dishes away.

Wealthy Filipinos hire domestic help for a couple of reasons, I've been told. In a country where there is a huge gap between rich and poor, hiring domestic help allows those with money to spread the wealth and provide employment opportunities. Of course, it also gets them out of doing the house work and yard work.

My good, hard-working Iowa upbringing is clearly at odds with hiring domestic help, but I'll never again be in the position to do so little work in a house so big. Before I know it, I'll be back home, scrubbing floors, washing sheets and wishing Myra and Marlene were there.