Friday, January 9, 2009

It is 1122am. The cleaners have gone and most fortunately, they totally ignored my admonitions to skip the shelves, which now glisten. Yes, it will take me awhile to find my remote controls etc, but boy is this place clean! Now I have to warm it up again; huddling under my Scotland blanket currently. [It was got when I first met Westy and I exchanged too much American currency, so had to spent British money before going back to the states.]

Got me to thinking about this whole Illegal Alien thing a bit. Of the people who came in with mops and buckets and scrub brushes and sponges and vacuum cleaners and worked for hours on end without a break, none of them spoke English. I wonder how many out-of-work software engineers would do the same. Or kids between their Sophomore and Junior years at college.

The common “wisdom” is that these people do the work Americans won’t do. I never denied that they are hard working, not after watching them carrying one railroad tie on each shoulder as I tried to drag one along the ground when c**** did his retaining wall for his swimming pool and I was supposed to be ‘helping’.

Before they left, they made my bed (!) and darned if they didn't find and replace a couple of screw tops on the glass jars in the bedroom where my loose change (sorted by denomination) finds its way when I come home and empty my pockets.

Gracias people!

12 comments:

GirlBlogger said...

If you'd had to rely on most any of the "out of work" folks I know from the library your house would have been left in about the same state the puffback left it.

I'm glad it's done.

Fijufic said...

Sweet. We usually do it ourselves because of our compulsive nature...

Dorrie said...

we have the same problem with people from the former East Block countries. Cheap labor, especially on the farm fields.... no German would do that work! As long as they do it legally, I have no problem with it.

Fin said...

A comment about commenting here. I have tried to make it as easy as possible, but if your first attempt fails, just click it one or two more times and it seems to work then.

Thanks for the comment Westy.

Chimp said...

What you say reminds me of a recent video I probably got by forwarded e-mail in which this guy arrives at a crowded corner with his pickup. You think he is going to pickup some day laborers, but all the people hoping to be picked are former financial advisors in suits.

Need farm laborers? Advertise on Wall Street.

Sunny said...

I still do all of mine all myself, but have been thinking about having my place

done by someone a couple times a year, then keep it clean myself all the other times.

Stay warm up there!

BenB said...

It's really good to see you posting again.
As far as illegals, I have no problem with the work they do. I see them every day at construction sites - they work their tails off, no doubt. They're making good money, too, at least at those sites, some upwards of $25 per hour as machinery operators. That's not the point. It's the point of the free health care handed out by the State of Arizona - at least here, and all the government subsidies they readily take advantage of, at taxpayer's expense - while at the same time, they have NO business being here!
Regardless, a clean home is always SOOO sweet!

fragilewisdom said...

I'm glad your house is clean at last. And I love that photo!

John0 Juanderlust said...

The idea that citizens "won't do" the work illegals get hired to do is not one I buy. There's more to it than that. Aside from the schemes to work the system, immigrants tend to be more into the free enterprise mentality than we are, yet this is where they have to go to reap the rewards for their initiative. I love the way they do the work and ignore the inconvenient rules, and am happy to see it when it doesn't mean leeching tax paid services.
Obviously your crew has a work ethic that most Americans have lost.

Anonymous said...

The idea that citizens "won't do" the work illegals get hired to do is not one I buy. There's more to it than that. Aside from the schemes to work the system, immigrants tend to be more into the free enterprise mentality than we are, yet this is where they have to go to reap the rewards for their initiative. I love the way they do the work and ignore the inconvenient rules, and am happy to see it when it doesn't mean leeching tax paid services.
Obviously your crew has a work ethic that most Americans have lost.

John0 Juanderlust said...

by john---comment glitch again

Anonymous said...

If I had to rely solely on American citizens to build a house, we'd all be crammed under the same few bridges. I couldn't find an American bricklayer here if my life depended on it. Still, I want to know who's here, and if they're safe or dangerous, and I want 'em to pay taxes before they enjoy our benefits. Some sort of registration doesn't seem like too much to ask. :)

S