Maid Limbo

One of the downsides of having domestic servants is, well frankly, dealing with domestic servants. In the year that we've been here, we've gone through five drivers and three or four maid/nannies. Unfortunately, the fun just does not stop.

When Tim picked me up from my return flight to Thailand, she told me that both our maid and our nanny were leaving. In typical Thai style, they told her the day that she was leaving for a three day beach vacation with the kids.

Now, Tim understands the whole Thai lack of notice dynamics pretty well, as she deals with it at home and work. This one pissed her off and she let them know it. She told them that she thought that she had been good to them, and that they were now just quitting without notice, leaving her alone with the kids. Since I was not due back for a few more days, it would essentially mean that she couldn't even go to work until I got back. As they had given her no notice, she had no opportunity to find replacements.

A bit abashed, Jipp (nanny) and Lott (maid) decided to stay until the end of this month. The reason that Lott decided to leave is that her husband got a job in Pattaya. Jipp said that she was leaving to go back to school, although Jipp has "quit" before, only to change her mind. In fact, the last time Jipp quit was when the last nanny quit. Another factor may have been that Jipp was working more hours when I was gone, as sometimes Tim had to work late. Normally she is done around 7:00 p.m., but when I was back in the states she sometimes had to stay a few hours longer until Tim arrived home. Jipp also had to do a bit more with the kids schedule in my absence.

I was a bit bummed to hear that they were leaving. I know that domestic help comes and goes, but I liked these two. They are both really good with the kids, and Nalin and Aleena really like Jipp. Lott can actually cook well. Our previous maids' cooking was not to my taste. Lott does pretty well with Thai and Western food.

Another thing I liked about them is that they are warm people. While a lot of Thais smile, there are many whose smiles are only skin deep. These two seemed to care about the kids and our family. They would joke around with each other, as well as with the kids and I.

Starting over with new household staff isn't particularly fun. It takes some time for people to get used to your schedule, style and habits.

So today Tim was interviewing three prospective candidates. I was there, but since they spoke in Thai, I was more of a spectator. The first was a bust, as she balked at doing any laundry, suggesting to Tim that the other girl hired could do it. Tim was kind of luke warm on the second one. Nothing too special, but at least she didn't say that she doesn't do windows.

Tim liked the third one, a twenty-something year old woman from Burma. I liked her almost the minute I first saw her. The reason that I liked her is not that unlike the other two, that this one was young and fairly attractive. I think an attractive maid or nanny is a bit of a double edge sword. As many of you know, I am not a religious man, but I think the Lord's Prayer has it right when it states "lead us not into temptation". No, the reason I liked this one right away is that she was smiling and laughing. She wasn't solemn like she was interviewing for the position of chief mourner, instead she seemed friendly and happy. Turns out she works a few houses down for a Thai or Asian non-English speaking family. She wanted to come to work for us in large part to learn English. I was a bit concerned that she already worked here, because some here are paid very generously and also make over time. The salary we are paying is actually about a 45% raise for her.

So Tim likes her, I like her, and she seems very interested in the job. She even told us that we didn't need to hire another person, that she could do it all herself. Slam dunk, right? Not quite so fast. A few days ago, Tim had spoken to Lott about staying on. Lott's husband's job was only for a year, so if Lott wanted to stay, she could move into Jipp's room. Lott said that she would talk to her husband about it.

After our conversation with the Burmese nanny, Tim asked Lott if she had made any decisions. Of course she said that she hadn't spoken to her husband about it yet. Tim let her know that she needed to make a decision quickly, as we only asked them to stay to the end of the month, and if they were leaving, we had to find replacements. Lott then asked Tim what if both she and Jipp decided to stay. Of course Tim would be fine with that, but they have to let us know soon.

So for the few days, we'll be living in maid limbo.