Lesson in Humility
Oh damn, this is my first lesson in running a home.
Hard as it is coming to terms with having to deal with settling into a home, my ignorance and impatience in these matters was made even more obvious recently.
Meena had made an entry into our lives at a telling time, when we needed someone who could help us with housekeeping (jhadu, poocha, bartan as the lingo goes)...Not that there was too much effort involved, given that we are two relatively disciplined people living under a roof. I was happy to have her help especially since she did a decent job. She then told me about her ill child and of her husband who walked out on them and her brother who just lazed around while she single handedly supported her mother. Poor thing I thought and so I raised her salary, I got her my mum's old clothes. Life was good...till she started playing truant. She had many excuses, wanting to take her kid to the temple to a tooth ache to a leg ache....soon my patience ran out.
True to my style, I told her that if she couldn't be consistent, she could leave and to my horror she exercised that option and left ! Uggh! I didn't think a little skirmish and a little argument would result in a walkout. My pride took a beating but I told myself and her that I could well do without her.
I have now been on a hunt for her replacement and the horror story continues... I had two maids come over and demand twice the salary. It seemed more like my interview than theirs... I have been made to swallow my pride and take a hard look at my management skills. I obviously lack tact and I may have thought that she was so easily dispensable but now have had a change of heart.
With my tail drawn between my legs, my search continues...
Hard as it is coming to terms with having to deal with settling into a home, my ignorance and impatience in these matters was made even more obvious recently.
Meena had made an entry into our lives at a telling time, when we needed someone who could help us with housekeeping (jhadu, poocha, bartan as the lingo goes)...Not that there was too much effort involved, given that we are two relatively disciplined people living under a roof. I was happy to have her help especially since she did a decent job. She then told me about her ill child and of her husband who walked out on them and her brother who just lazed around while she single handedly supported her mother. Poor thing I thought and so I raised her salary, I got her my mum's old clothes. Life was good...till she started playing truant. She had many excuses, wanting to take her kid to the temple to a tooth ache to a leg ache....soon my patience ran out.
True to my style, I told her that if she couldn't be consistent, she could leave and to my horror she exercised that option and left ! Uggh! I didn't think a little skirmish and a little argument would result in a walkout. My pride took a beating but I told myself and her that I could well do without her.
I have now been on a hunt for her replacement and the horror story continues... I had two maids come over and demand twice the salary. It seemed more like my interview than theirs... I have been made to swallow my pride and take a hard look at my management skills. I obviously lack tact and I may have thought that she was so easily dispensable but now have had a change of heart.
With my tail drawn between my legs, my search continues...