4 ms·

> we probably all know a Lola Not sure what your value of "we" is. I've never met anyone like Lola, and I've never heard a story like this from anyone I know.

> we probably all know a Lola Not sure what your value of "we" is. I've never met anyone like Lola, and I've never heard a story like this from anyone I know. Then again, I didn't have a housekeeper or know anyone who did. People in my social class were glad to keep the electric bill paid and have a working car to drive.

jablan 9y ago
Boy, I'm so glad that I grew up in a socialist country!
- knodi123 9y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Russia
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- julianmarq 9y ago
  Really? Which one? Keep in mind that "capitalism with higher taxes" is still capitalism so I'm curious of what of the few really socialist countries you're from.
zeckalpha 9y ago
Look at it the other way: If people in your social class were glad to keep the electric bill paid and have a working car, some of them could have ended up like Lola.
dbg31415 9y ago
Degrees of Lola... I bet if you peek your head in the kitchen of your top 5 favorite restaurants, you'll find someone on the dishwashing or cleaning staff who is an immigrant and signs over most, if not all, of their paycheck to a "sponsor" here who looks after them. Gives them a place to stay, helps them with language barriers, etc. Or if you know of anyone who has done a mail-order-bride-type thing... While you may not interact with these people, I bet you see them in your day-to-day life.
Symbiote 9y ago
A few people I socialised with at university had live-in housekeepers, and I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of them had a rough time. Most of the students from Asia or the Middle East, whose parents were paying tens of thousands of pounds for their child to attend a British university, had staff at their parents' home. One close friend was a British girl who'd grown up in Hong Kong, with a full-time au pair. She complained that the other HK and Chinese girls she shared a kitchen with didn't know anything about cooking or cleaning, since their au pairs had always done everything for them. In her case, her parents told her to "help" the au pair with chores, in the same way I helped my mum, so she'd learn. Presumably, her parents knew the arrangement in Hong Kong wouldn't last forever. I've also met a couple of people working as au pair's here, both ~20 year old women mixing the work with studying, which is the usual sytem in Europe. It looks like a very poor deal, for example [1] £320/mth for what's not far off full time hours (37.5hr/wk would be full time in a government job). [1] https://www.aupair.com/en/job/lisburn-united-kingdom-765795.php https://www.aupair.com/en/job/lisburn-united-kingdom-765795....
- nylonstrung 9y ago
  That's pretty insane and a stifling arrangement for everyone involved I'd imagine. Why does a college kid need a live-in housekeeper?
  - Symbiote 9y ago
    Back home. Not at university in London. Maybe I didn't make that clear.
- fh973 9y ago
  While in Germany the concept of a full time housekeeper is a rich people thing only, we also have this special case of au-pairs who are do not fall under the same regulations, cultural constraints and protections as normal employees. You would not treat an employed housekeeper like people use their aupairs nor would you be allowed to. I guess this one of the privileges of a certain class that just goes unmentioned and untouched by politics.

jablan 9y ago

Boy, I'm so glad that I grew up in a socialist country!

knodi123 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Russia
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
julianmarq 9y ago
Really? Which one? Keep in mind that "capitalism with higher taxes" is still capitalism so I'm curious of what of the few really socialist countries you're from.

zeckalpha 9y ago

Look at it the other way: If people in your social class were glad to keep the electric bill paid and have a working car, some of them could have ended up like Lola.

dbg31415 9y ago

Degrees of Lola... I bet if you peek your head in the kitchen of your top 5 favorite restaurants, you'll find someone on the dishwashing or cleaning staff who is an immigrant and signs over most, if not all, of their paycheck to a "sponsor" here who looks after them. Gives them a place to stay, helps them with language barriers, etc. Or if you know of anyone who has done a mail-order-bride-type thing... While you may not interact with these people, I bet you see them in your day-to-day life.

Symbiote 9y ago

A few people I socialised with at university had live-in housekeepers, and I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of them had a rough time. Most of the students from Asia or the Middle East, whose parents were paying tens of thousands of pounds for their child to attend a British university, had staff at their parents' home. One close friend was a British girl who'd grown up in Hong Kong, with a full-time au pair. She complained that the other HK and Chinese girls she shared a kitchen with didn't know anything about cooking or cleaning, since their au pairs had always done everything for them. In her case, her parents told her to "help" the au pair with chores, in the same way I helped my mum, so she'd learn. Presumably, her parents knew the arrangement in Hong Kong wouldn't last forever. I've also met a couple of people working as au pair's here, both ~20 year old women mixing the work with studying, which is the usual sytem in Europe. It looks like a very poor deal, for example [1] £320/mth for what's not far off full time hours (37.5hr/wk would be full time in a government job). [1] https://www.aupair.com/en/job/lisburn-united-kingdom-765795.php https://www.aupair.com/en/job/lisburn-united-kingdom-765795....

nylonstrung 9y ago
That's pretty insane and a stifling arrangement for everyone involved I'd imagine. Why does a college kid need a live-in housekeeper?
- Symbiote 9y ago
  Back home. Not at university in London. Maybe I didn't make that clear.
fh973 9y ago
While in Germany the concept of a full time housekeeper is a rich people thing only, we also have this special case of au-pairs who are do not fall under the same regulations, cultural constraints and protections as normal employees. You would not treat an employed housekeeper like people use their aupairs nor would you be allowed to. I guess this one of the privileges of a certain class that just goes unmentioned and untouched by politics.