Low cost labor – Part 1

How to wrap your head around the really low cost labor here? I feel queasy about the low cost labor that we all so thoroughly enjoy. It is the flip side of the profound poverty you see all around you, that enables very middle class families to enjoy a full staff of support people that will bring you tea when you ring a bell. The relationships between employer and employee also seem rather strained, given the huge disparity in economic circumstances. There is a lot of suspicion that staff will “take things” and so a consequent focus on checking receipts, not allowing staff to have keys to your home, etc. (We bought a refrigerator when we moved into our ap’t…and ALL of the refrigerators come with a lock and key…) The suspicions are substantiated by things you read in the newspaper, with long time staff doing all sorts of unpleasant things to their employers. I can’t help but bring my American sensibilities to the table, though. We have hired a lovely woman as our housekeeper, and I appear to be way friendlier and more trusting with our housekeeper than others that I speak to. The experience of having a housekeeper would be too unpleasant for me….outweighing all other benefits….if I behaved any other way.