It’s only been a few days and yet there’s already a war brewing between our maids, the lava vs the cook. Our maids are fighting.
I spoke to the labandera this morning—– I asked her how she feels about her job and the other maids. She said they are up against her. She said the cook gave pancit canton to the guards but not to her.
I think it was a mistake that I took her in. There were warning signs already when I interviewed her. Even before she had seen our house, she was already complaining that the houses in this village are so big and hard to clean. That was already a warning sign yet I ignored it.
The other day I asked her to bring the garbage bin back to the powder room. She said “mamaya na mam, pagkatapos kong maglaba”.
I asked her to help change our bed sheet. She told me to assign that to the other two because she’s already assigned to washing and ironing. “Mam, pwede ba sila na lang dalawa ang utusan mo?”
As soon as I came home this evening at 6 pm, I saw her lounging in the garage. The first thing that I did was to ask her, “O kumusta, nag-away pa ba kayo ni Mary Ann? Kumain ka ba nung langka? Ano’ng ulam mo sa tanghali?”
She told me no, she didn’t eat the langka.
Ulam? “Inulam ko mam saging kasi sa ulam hindi sila gumagamit ng serving spoon. Nagluto sya pero, kahit ganito ako mam, maselan ako, kailangan may serving spoon. Eh kung pang-apat akong kakain, eh di….., dapat may serving spoon”.
She continued by reporting to me that the other maids spent the whole day texting and chatting.
She also told me that we’re always away and we only need two maids. Two maids would be enough she said. She requested to take a leave while we’re away and she would like to come back when we’re back from abroad.
A—–“Sino ang maglalaba ng damit ni Mam Julienne?”
Lava—“Isa lang naman sya mam, sila na lang ang maglaba”.
A—–“So paano, pag wala ka dito syempre hindi kita suswelduhan”.
Lava—“Problema nga yan mam, wala akong trabaho”.
The other maid naman made sumbong that this morning, she watered the plants already at 6 am. Then the other girl came and watered the plants again even if she knew that they’ve just been watered. “Mam, marami syang tubig. Nagsayang ng tubig”.
