Novmber 16, 2012
Comments to: paulafhill60@gmail.com
Unpardonable envy of those steady stream of capable steps
outside my partially ajar door as I rouse from a fidgety sleep.
This afternoon thin as an immature bamboo branch Luciana
will arrive on her dependable bike to sweep through the spacious house cleaning
it inside and out. The complex and multi-layered class system in Brasil is
evolving a bit. Every middle class family from upper to lower, has a maid. She
either lives with the family in a small room off the kitchen or comes and goes
on either a part-time or full-time basis. Most have weekends and holidays off
to spend with their own brood. If the servant has children they are typically
residing with one or both of the grandparents or another family member. A grand
majority live in the favellas or much further out in the country. Either way,
it is a long and tedious bus ride.
Along with a maid a great majority of middle class and
higher families have a cook. Consequently the dutiful wife/mother does not have
this skill set. It is clearly a status issue. The maid, depending upon where
the supporting family lives, has a salary of R$15 (US$7.50) per ½ day to
minimum wage R$800/month (US$400.) When tragedy strikes a family and the
breadwinner father loses his job or dies it is the equivalent of a national
disaster. The entire extended family holds conference to maintain the integrity
of their indispensable servants. It is unspeakable to go without the indelible
pyramid of support.
When a farmhand, maid, cook or other service worker arrives
at the door they dip their heads and silently request permission to enter,
mumbling “excuse me” as they do so. They are generally a very humble crowd and
clearly well aware of their inferred status.
I have asked several people about unemployment statistics in
the nearby city or Brasil as a country. No one seems to know those figures. My
guess is that the multifaceted system is so vast and complex it is a hard
number to come across. There are many, many people who are working sporadically
on an hourly wage to raise their struggling families who have disappeared into
the integral design.
North America is shifting
extraordinarily as well. I had much difficulty in obtaining steady livable wage
employment in the last five years especially. Although overqualified, more
often than not, I was offered several posts with absolutely no benefits and a
miserable hourly wage for an insurmountable list of duties. Yes, things are
ever-changing and I do have eternal hope that each individual country can
discover its unique character through every human being. Everyone has something
to contribute.
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