What do women want more than diamonds?
This question was asked on radio some time back. As a woman who adores diamonds, I find the answer surprising unbelievable. Can you guess what it is? I was thinking along the lines of love (hopeless romantic in me), money (hopeless romantic needs to be practical too), security (which woman doesn’t want security?), family (obviously) …. but the answer turned out to be live-in maids. Seriously?
It’s a love-hate situation for me. On one hand, I love the idea of someone doing all the housework for me. On the other hand, I value my privacy. Most importantly, getting a good maid is like striking lottery. The part-time maids already get on my nerves. I can’t imagine if I have to face them 24/7. I didn’t have much issues with the part-time cleaners I used to engage in Singapore but the part-time maids in Dubai, they are a different league altogether. Let me share with you the “pattern” (Singlish – means attitude or stunts) they “chut” (Singlish – means show or come out with).
The Loan Shark – This maid acts like you owe her money. She’s extremely unhappy when she works and makes sure that you hear her anger. Her motto is “Leave no furniture unharmed”.
The Touch & Go – This maid cleans just the surface, if that’s called cleaning at all. She’s the type who cleans around the bed but never under it. She turns a blind eye to spots, dust, and dirt. I once saw some stains on the floor that the maid missed to clean and asked her to clean it. She then placed a very wet mop over the stains and left a puddle of water on them probably thinking that the water will “melt” the stains.
The Yes Ma’am – This maid will reply “yes ma’am” to everything you say but not necessarily do what you ask. I asked the maid to clean the laundry area. She replied “yes ma’am”. Before she left, I asked if she had cleaned the laundry area. She replied “yes ma’am”. I found out after that all she has done was left the vacuum cleaner in the laundry area.
The Stuntwoman – This maid loves acrobatics. Instead of going on a step-ladder to clean mirrors, she climbs on the vanity top to do the job.
The Disinfectant – This maid loves Dettol and uses it on everything. Instead of diluting the Dettol to clean surfaces, she will pour Dettol directly on a piece of cloth and clean away. She may just use up a whole bottle of Dettol and leave your house smelling like a hospital.
The Forgetful – The forgetful maid will leave things around. I’ve found a packet of leather wet wipes left unsealed on the sofa, a bottle of glass cleaner on my bookshelf, and more amazingly, a roll of toilet paper on my dining table.
The Organizer – This maid loves to reorganize your stuff according to her own logic. She thinks that a table cloth should be in the cabinet instead of on the table. Even more amusing is how she moved my eyelash curler from my end of the vanity top to the other end and placed it next to my hubby’s shaver. Perhaps she thinks one should curl before shaving.
The Magician - In my opinion, this maid wins them all. She was probably trained in Hogwarts and can make things disappear. I asked this maid to change my bed linen with fresh ones and put the ones to wash in the laundry basket. While doing the laundry, I realised I was missing one of the white pillow cases. I rummaged the entire laundry area, looked under the bed but still could not find it. I almost felt like Sherlock Holmes and prided myself for solving the mystery when I finally found the missing pillow case….on the pillow. This maid did not remove the existing pillow case and simply put the fresh pillow case over it. -.-”"
What do I want more than diamonds? Definitely not a live-in maid.