Reply to New York Times article on employers behaving atrociously to nannies, cleaners during COVID

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Reply to "New York Times article on employers behaving atrociously to nannies, cleaners during COVID"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm not paying my housecleaner through this. I was one of many customers. She came once every two weeks.

I don't feel bad about it. You might call me rich but that's labeling. It takes a lot to be "middle class" in the DC area. We earn a lot, but we spend a lot to live where we live in DC suburbs in a seemly middle class lifestyle. Those things that cost way more than it could include having a yard, eating out so we are not exhausted and have energy to give(aka not yell) to our kids. I think I deserve to have a yard. I think I earned it. I think I deserve, at the end of the day, to not be so short fused and stressed that I end up yelling at my 7 year old for something innocent. I think I deserve a relatively new Toyota Highlander instead of a 12 year old one. These are all things that cost a lot in the DC area. You have to be "wealthy" if you want to call it that, to have all those things.

I'm also an immigrant. Our family immigrated to US when I was 8. My parents are what you call those low income earners. We lived hand to mouth. We didn't have a paycheck sometimes so we used credit card to live. When I graduated from college, we had about 4-5 years of living costs built up on credit card bills and when I started earning a paycheck, we paid off those credit card bills together as a family for years. It was hard to pay off just the minimum sometimes.

I preservered. My whole family had a really good work ethic. When others were going to beach week in high school, I studied to get into a good college and ace all the tests. In college when others were "having the time of their lives," I studied in the library until 2am most days, including Fridays. One of my most vivid memories from college is walking home from the library where I had been studying to my dorm at 2am past all the people puking in the street. When I started working, I was eager, didn't waste time at work and worked as hard as I can.

I now have a family. We have a nice house in McLean. I have two kids that I can send to tutoring or whatever extra curricular they want. We had a nanny when they were younger. We have house cleaners. We have yard workers. To get to where I am, I worked really hard.

When things like COVID come up, I think we deserve a little extra security for all the hard work that I put in.

I do give to charity. I do all the little things like picking the card on the Christmas tree to pick out a gift for people who can't afford gifts. I buy the extra groceries to help out when they have drives at the grocery store. Sure, I feel that some people have been unlucky and it's not their fault. And they do deserve some help. And I do help.

But no, when I look at the bottom of my heart right now and think about "do I feel bad that I'm not paying my house cleaner?" No, I do not feel bad. I worked my butt off all my life so I can get to where I am. I don't think people are owed a paycheck because a pandemic happens. It's not  a "no brainer" to pay your housecleaner as some people call it. [/quote]

So what you're saying is, your housecleaner is where she is in life because she didn't work hard, and therefore she doesn't deserve your consideration or compassion.

I hope you don't consider yourself a religious person or attend church/temple/whatever. [/quote]

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