The other day, I was talking to one of my neighbours, she was telling me about her health concerns and the conversation then moved to how she was alone, and has been for 4-5 years, and that her family was spoilt and there was so much to do......
I was surprised and expressed my sympathy, touching her arm in a gesture of warmth and kindness. I thought she was telling me she was a single mum, and had the family and home to look after on her own.
As the conversation progressed, it dawned on me, that by being on her own, she meant not having a full time housekeeper. She still had a housekeeper twice a week, but she was retiring and she needed another to do her ironing! Let me explain that most caucasian local families here have full time housekeepers, whether the women work or not, the hired help come from 9 til 4, Mon- Friday. The house keepers do all the housework and some cook. They may also have help that just do the ironing
Life on the island is so far removed from what I'm used to in the UK, I thought she was divorced or widowed!!! Not that she had to do her own housework....... I've been doing my own housework since I was old enough to wash the dishes... perhaps she was spoilt , rather than her children, and surely they are old enough to help around the house, but maybe, as they have always had hired help all their lives, its become a hardship to tidy up their own mess!!!!!
If these people moved to the UK, they would have a rude awakening, and find that their quality of life would be seriously lacking....unless they were willing to pay for the help they needed, and it would cost more than it did here.
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