Why Is It Always Automatically Assumed That You Have To Have A Maid

[Mr Lee]

Just because a Filipino is married to a foreigner or rich enough to own their own condo or home, I wonder why it is always assumed that you must have a maid? The workers in our condo building once thought my wife was my maid and have asked in the past why we do not have a maid. Here is a story and it basically assumes the same thing, so what is up with that? Do most of you have maids? We do not and probably never will because I like my privacy, so what are the real reasons to have a maid, to keep up an appearance or a status symbol unwritten rule? I grew up poor so I guess I can never understand those thoughts. Cleaning for Condo Living With the popularity of condo living nowadays, most spaces are so small it’s almost unnecessary to have live-in help. Condo dwellers usually have a cleaning service come in once a week for more practical reasons. In the meantime, keeping your condo clean while in between cleanings shouldn’t be too time- consuming or difficult. There are even little cheat tricks to get away with while waiting for the cleaning lady to arrive. Below is a list of tips from my years of experience as a condo dweller, some of which have been passed down to me.

[Art2ro]

I personally like condo living, but for the life me I can't seem to convince my wife of that! So now, we live in a 2 story house with a 2 car garage and an entertainment room and we have a live-out maid who comes in every other day just to wash the dishes, clean the whole house, my old car, mop, dust and trim the small patch of grass in the front yard and run errands to buy things when my wife is out of stock of whatever! If we lived in a condo, we don't need a live-in or live-out maid, but for just once or twice a week to do a complete general cleaning weather if we are home or not! So now, we can't do without a maid! I'm not going to lift a finger to clean the entire house! Hey, no way, I'm re(tired)!:as-if::541:

[Mr Lee]

I personally like condo living, but for the life me I can't seem to convince my wife of that! So now, we live in a 2 story house with a 2 car garage and an entertainment room and we have a live-out maid who comes in every other day just to wash the dishes, clean the whole house, my old car, mop, dust and trim the small patch of grass in the front yard and run errands to buy things when my wife is out of stock of whatever! If we lived in a condo, we don't need a live-in or live-out maid, but for just once or twice a week to do a complete general cleaning weather if we are home or not! So now, we can't do without a maid! I'm not going to lift a finger to clean the entire house! Hey, no way, I'm re(tired)!:as-if::541:

I grew up in a small apartment and once I got married the first time, then I immediately bought a house and have never thought I would like living in a condo, but now that we have a condo in Cebu, I enjoy it immensely. The security is nice and the privacy on our balcony is ultimately nice to me, because I can sit out there have coffee or a cold refreshment and use my laptop, read, relax or whatever I wish to do including sleep or nap at times and there is really no one close by who can even see me, whereas in our home in Florida, our patio is far from private and as some of you know if you have been reading, a neighbor off his meds decided he wanted in and broke into our locked screened enclosure to do it, and that would never happen in a condo unless the guy had wings.    Now as for maids, not to be a wise guy, but what do the wifes do all day? My wife never minds cleaning and even seems to enjoy keeping our home clean and as organized as she can with me around to mess it up.    So I often wonder what it is about the culture that makes it so women in the Philippines no longer feel that is their job and need maids to do it? Is it demeaning for a Filipino married to a westerner or a Balikbayan to clean their own home? I believe if we lived in a home that me might also be forced by culture to do the same thing but in our condo, no one really knows what goes on inside it except us unless they keep peeping out their doors. 

[Art2ro]

I personally like condo living, but for the life me I can't seem to convince my wife of that! So now, we live in a 2 story house with a 2 car garage and an entertainment room and we have a live-out maid who comes in every other day just to wash the dishes, clean the whole house, my old car, mop, dust and trim the small patch of grass in the front yard and run errands to buy things when my wife is out of stock of whatever! If we lived in a condo, we don't need a live-in or live-out maid, but for just once or twice a week to do a complete general cleaning weather if we are home or not! So now, we can't do without a maid! I'm not going to lift a finger to clean the entire house! Hey, no way, I'm re(tired)!:lol::as-if:

I grew up in a small apartment and once I got married the first time, then I immediately bought a house and have never thought I would like living in a condo, but now that we have a condo in Cebu, I enjoy it immensely. The security is nice and the privacy on our balcony is ultimately nice to me, because I can sit out there have coffee or a cold refreshment and use my laptop, read, relax or whatever I wish to do including sleep or nap at times and there is really no one close by who can even see me, whereas in our home in Florida, our patio is far from private and as some of you know if you have been reading, a neighbor off his meds decided he wanted in and broke into our locked screened enclosure to do it, and that would never happen in a condo unless the guy had wings. Now as for maids, not to be a wise guy, but what do the wives do all day? My wife never minds cleaning and even seems to enjoy keeping our home clean and as organized as she can with me around to mess it up. So I often wonder what it is about the culture that makes it so women in the Philippines no longer feel that is their job and need maids to do it? Is it demeaning for a Filipino married to a westerner or a Balikbayan to clean their own home? I believe if we lived in a home that me might also be forced by culture to do the same thing but in our condo, no one really knows what goes on inside it except us unless they keep peeping out their doors.

Oh BTW, my wife does the laundry using our high tech washer and dryer and does the grocery shopping once a week, I'm just her chauffeur! Must be hard work huh? :yes::wt-hell::no::541: Edited June 28, 2010 by MrBBtheFilAm

[sjp52]

We have a maid and I love it. I was tired of my wife always cleaning and cooking. It seems like she spent half the day doing work and she would never let me help. Now we spend so much more time together. Also I love waking up to my coffee there at the table already for me and getting that massage every morning is awesome. Our maid is helping me with the language. When we have parties the maid frees up time for my wife to socialize more and not worry about the guests so much. Do we need a maid ? No. But I worked hard all my life and now that i,m retired it is one of the things that I have to pamper myself and my wife

[UZI]

I personally like condo living, but for the life me I can't seem to convince my wife of that! So now, we live in a 2 story house with a 2 car garage and an entertainment room and we have a live-out maid who comes in every other day just to wash the dishes, clean the whole house, my old car, mop, dust and trim the small patch of grass in the front yard and run errands to buy things when my wife is out of stock of whatever! If we lived in a condo, we don't need a live-in or live-out maid, but for just once or twice a week to do a complete general cleaning weather if we are home or not! So now, we can't do without a maid! I'm not going to lift a finger to clean the entire house! Hey, no way, I'm re(tired)!:as-if::541:

I grew up in a small apartment and once I got married the first time, then I immediately bought a house and have never thought I would like living in a condo, but now that we have a condo in Cebu, I enjoy it immensely. The security is nice and the privacy on our balcony is ultimately nice to me, because I can sit out there have coffee or a cold refreshment and use my laptop, read, relax or whatever I wish to do including sleep or nap at times and there is really no one close by who can even see me, whereas in our home in Florida, our patio is far from private and as some of you know if you have been reading, a neighbor off his meds decided he wanted in and broke into our locked screened enclosure to do it, and that would never happen in a condo unless the guy had wings. Now as for maids, not to be a wise guy, but what do the wifes do all day? My wife never minds cleaning and even seems to enjoy keeping our home clean and as organized as she can with me around to mess it up. So I often wonder what it is about the culture that makes it so women in the Philippines no longer feel that is their job and need maids to do it? Is it demeaning for a Filipino married to a westerner or a Balikbayan to clean their own home? I believe if we lived in a home that me might also be forced by culture to do the same thing but in our condo, no one really knows what goes on inside it except us unless they keep peeping out their doors.

Lee,Dee & I couldn't agree more with your question, what do the wives do?We have a cleaner come once a week where we currently live, to give the house a 'top to toe' clean but to have one come to wash the dishes :lol: when there are only the two of you. It is different here if you have kids as they have early starts for school so need feeding 1st & of course lots of clothes to wash.My experience here is that a lot of wives just sit around with their cronies (barkada) and chismis (gossip) all the time. As for the maids, what a lazy bunch most of them are. Most are status symbols & so have little to do most of the time too & so sit texting or chismis with other maids & Yayas which is poor security IMHO.BTW, I have to ask, what does a High Tech washer do that most washers don't? Collect the washing for you, iron & fold afterwards & gives a massage while you wait Ours is low tech, we put the washing in & take it out when it's done. :whistling:Uzi.

[Art2ro]

:SugarwareZ-034::thumbsup::e3358: To your average Filipino, "Low Tech" is washing by hand or using a cheap electric washing machine you have to manually pour in the water using a bucket, because the water hose attachment method is too slow or water pressure is too weak and time consuming. After the wash cycle is complete, you have to turn a knob to manually drain the dirty water and then do the rinse cycle for as many times to get rid of all the excess detergent! After the rinse cycle and the water is all drained out, you then load the wet cloths into an electric spin dryer or wring out the cloths by hand to get rid of the excess water which is the last step. Then you hang the cloths on a cloths line to dry, which in the mean just ends up collecting dust on the cloths line while drying in the sun, because the Philippines is constantly dusty with crap flying around in the wind when they burn rice fields after each harvest or the nearby neighbors still constructing their homes! I pity anyone's maid or wife who has to use that "Low Tech" method of washing cloths, my wife has been there and done that long ago when we didn't have a "High Tech" washer and dryer 12 years ago when we first arrived in the Philippines! Now, we prefer to use our modern "High Tech "automatic washer and dryer! These new modern programmable washing machines are expensive, but the electric dryers are affordable! We've had our "High Tech" washer and dryer for 10 years now and are still running well without any problems! My wife is a good cook and naturally uses up a lot of pots, pans and serving dishes after cooking each meal. So, does anyone enjoy washing piles of dirty pots and pans and dishes? Our maid is getting paid well, so she does the washing of the pots, pans and dishes when she's in. Our live-out maid only comes in 3 1/2 days a week and receives a salary equivalent to that of your average live-in maid makes in a month! I don't mind my wife sitting around doing nothing, spending our money or chatting with her friends and good neighbors! She has done all the chores of a good and loving wife, when I was out making an earnest living for the both of us and now that we're retired, she deserves to enjoy her life as she chooses without any complaints from me, because one good turn deserves another! So, there's no status symbols here, because it's just plain common sense living our way!"DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS! :bedtime2::1247::cheersty:

Edited June 29, 2010 by MrBBtheFilAm

[UZI]

:-kiss::yes::o To your average Filipino, "Low Tech" is washing by hand or using a cheap electric washing machine you have to manually pour in the water using a bucket, because the water hose attachment method is too slow or water pressure is too weak and time consuming. After the wash cycle is complete, you have to turn a knob to manually drain the dirty water and then do the rinse cycle for as many times to get rid of all the excess detergent! After the rinse cycle and the water is all drained out, you then load the wet cloths into an electric spin dryer or wring out the cloths by hand to get rid of the excess water which is the last step. Then you hang the cloths on a cloths line to dry, which in the mean just ends up collecting dust on the cloths line while drying in the sun, because the Philippines is constantly dusty with crap flying around in the wind when they burn rice fields after each harvest or the nearby neighbors still constructing their homes! I pity anyone's maid or wife who has to use that "Low Tech" method of washing cloths, my wife has been there and done that long ago when we didn't have a "High Tech" washer and dryer 12 years ago when we first arrived in the Philippines! Now, we prefer to use our modern "High Tech "automatic washer and dryer! These new modern programmable washing machines are expensive, but the electric dryers are affordable! We've had our "High Tech" washer and dryer for 10 years now and are still running well without any problems! My wife is a good cook and naturally uses up a lot of pots, pans and serving dishes after cooking each meal. So, does anyone enjoy washing piles of dirty pots and pans and dishes? Our maid is getting paid well, so she does the washing of the pots, pans and dishes when she's in. Our live-out maid only comes in 3 1/2 days a week and receives a salary equivalent to that of your average live-in maid makes in a month! I don't mind my wife sitting around doing nothing, spending our money or chatting with her friends and good neighbors! She has done all the chores of a good and loving wife, when I was out making an earnest living for the both of us and now that we're retired, she deserves to enjoy her life as she chooses without any complaints from me, because one good turn deserves another! So, there's no status symbols here, because it's just plain common sense living our way!"DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS! :23_11_62[1]::wave::angry:

Good to know our P10,000 washing machine we bought 4 years ago is classed as 'High Tech' then. We will be buying another for our new home here in Cebu. :cheersty:Uzi