would you ever want to have a servant?

[Dorothy Wood]

they said on the news that kate and william aren't going to have servants. and that charles has 150, my word!

anyway, I don't think I'd ever want a servant. maybe an assistant who helps with work and a cleaning service...but not people that live in my home and draw my baths. ick!

prince william seems like he's pretty cool

[mickill]

If by servant you mean human amenities such as a personal chef, maids, butlers, a grounds keeper, gardeners, some guy that fixes everything that breaks, a masseuse, concubines, personal strippers, personal female mud wrestlers, personal girls gone wild, and a nanny, then sure.

[mikizee]

I'd be happy with four - a PA, a personal chef, cleaner and driver. Maybe the PA could also be my driver. So three I guess.

I'm pretty sure if I won millions in a lottery I would go out and hire some, if only just for a year or so to see how awesome it is.

[ms.peachy]

Mine is in the kitchen whipping up a 3 course Chinese meal right now.

[Kid Presentable]

We have a cleaner. It's good, if a little awkward. We thank her profusely but we don't trust her enough to leave her in the house alone. Kind of weird. I would have servants if I could afford them, I guess.

[Tone Capone]

I usually get a housekeeper. I guess if I was rich I would hire an assistant to do all the crap that I don't want to be bothered with (like deal with the housekeeper) but, I don't know if I could call them servants.... hired help maybe.

[jabumbo]

if anything, i'd probably only go as far as to have someone clean up the house every month or so.


although the only thing i truly dislike doing is making my breakfast/lunch in the morning. so if i could have someone magically have all of that done for me when i wake up, i'd be happy.

[gbsuey]

maybe they won't be getting servants as such-like Prince Charles has someone to do pretty much everything for him...but i'll bet they'll have a cleaner and gardeners and shit like that-i do peoples cleaning and some washing and stuff but i'm not classed as a servant!

and yeah i would totally get some help in-not someone to scrub my back and crap like that but why clean your house when you can pay someone else to

[Adam]

I thought DW had been proposed to then after reading the title! bad joke, sorry

Nah, I can barely find enough to do without a servant, I'd be even more bored if someone else started doing my to do list also.

The Prince Willy and Kate M. are still gonna have some staff. It'll be a twist on the story to have a dig at Charles while being able to continue the dull coverage of the royal wedding.

I like Charles tho, I think he has some good idea on the environment etc if a little out of touch with the common folk.

[Dorothy Wood]

so most of you guys are pro-servant...interesting....

I guess I just don't want anybody touching my stuff. although, I'd let somebody organize my clothes. I can't seem to figure that out. even with a room in my house acting as a walk-in closet, the clothes are exploded everywhere and in no particular order at all. :(

peachy, do you have a person because that's just what happens there?

[trailerprincess]

Weird, just today my mum asked me why I don't have a cleaner/cook. I just don't think I make enough mess to justify it.

[miss soul fire]

No. Does maids count? I used to have maids as a kid, but everybody has one here. And most of them suck. I hate strange people in my house. I have no privacy.:D

[Documad]

I would definitely have servants if I could afford it.

[TurdBerglar]

maybe a really great cook

i really hate cooking. i'd rather not eat or just have crackers and peanutbutter if i actually need to cook something for myself.

[Echewta]

Yes, which is why I need to marry again so shes free.

[ms.peachy]

peachy, do you have a person because that's just what happens there?

Partly, to be sure. Because it is affordable, and it makes life easier - our ayi can negotiate life here more readily than I can. So she knows how to speak with workmen that need to come to the house for whatever reason, can haggle for the best prices at the vegetable market, relate any problems with our apartment to our landlord with a lot less pantomiming than me, etc etc. On a day to day basis of course it just means I don't have to spend my time doing household chores (well, 3 days a week, anyway.) Which, it has to be said, is very nice.

It would definitely be considered a bit 'weird' if we did not have an ayi. I'm pretty sure for the first couple months I lived here, when we didn't, my neighbors were referring to me as "that foreign lady that does her own laundry". I was even asked once if the reason I didn't have one was because I didn't want to have a Chinese person in my house! So if you don't have an ayi, people think it is because you are a snob and you look down on Chinese people. Also, you are depriving someone of a job, which is unforgivable.

[Dorothy Wood]

maybe a really great cook

i really hate cooking. i'd rather not eat or just have crackers and peanutbutter if i actually need to cook something for myself.

yeah, I guess I hate cooking too. Well not hate...I just usually would rather not make a big event about eating. I dislike going out to eat (unless it's mexican food, or my ma's paying), mainly because I just want to put the food in my mouth and get my fuel and get on with things. Doesn't mean I don't like good food though, so a personal chef would be nice. Just wouldn't want to have to talk to them. ha. I guess that's what it comes down to, not wanting to talk to anyone.


Partly, to be sure. Because it is affordable, and it makes life easier - our ayi can negotiate life here more readily than I can. So she knows how to speak with workmen that need to come to the house for whatever reason, can haggle for the best prices at the vegetable market, relate any problems with our apartment to our landlord with a lot less pantomiming than me, etc etc. On a day to day basis of course it just means I don't have to spend my time doing household chores (well, 3 days a week, anyway.) Which, it has to be said, is very nice.

It would definitely be considered a bit 'weird' if we did not have an ayi. I'm pretty sure for the first couple months I lived here, when we didn't, my neighbors were referring to me as "that foreign lady that does her own laundry". I was even asked once if the reason I didn't have one was because I didn't want to have a Chinese person in my house! So if you don't have an ayi, people think it is because you are a snob and you look down on Chinese people. Also, you are depriving someone of a job, which is unforgivable.

Interesting. China's like a different planet, man!

are you friends with your ayi? or does she just do her stuff and get out of your hair?

[Documad]

It would definitely be considered a bit 'weird' if we did not have an ayi. I'm pretty sure for the first couple months I lived here, when we didn't, my neighbors were referring to me as "that foreign lady that does her own laundry". I was even asked once if the reason I didn't have one was because I didn't want to have a Chinese person in my house! So if you don't have an ayi, people think it is because you are a snob and you look down on Chinese people. Also, you are depriving someone of a job, which is unforgivable.

This sounds like my mom's experience when she and my dad moved to the southern US right after WWII. The other young moms eventually pulled her aside and explained, though after my mom hired a housekeeper my mom freaked her out by trying to be friends with her. They ended up corresponding for decades after my mom and dad moved north again.

[ms.peachy]

Interesting. China's like a different planet, man!

Indeed.

are you friends with your ayi? or does she just do her stuff and get out of your hair?

I would say 'friendly', but not, like, BFFs or anything. More just like, a positive employer/employee relationship. She's about 2 or 3 years younger than me, has a husband and a 14 year old son. Mostly she just gets on with her work, but sometimes we chat. She teaches me some Chinese, I teach her some English. If I am getting ready to go out and trying to decide between pairs of shoes or tops or something, I might ask her what she think looks better, that sort of thing. She works 3 days a week for me, and 3 days a week for another Western family who also have a 4 year old girl.

Mostly I think of her as a regular working mom, you know? Some moms go to work in offices, some in factories, some in shops, some in other people's houses. We pay her a reasonable local rate, we'll give her a bonus for Chinese New Year, we don't ask her too often to work hours outside of our agreement (and compensate her when we do) and we hope she feels she is well treated and respected by us.

[RobMoney$]

The older I get, the more I realize that I enjoy knowing I'm better than others and I have no problem letting those below me know it.
Right now I just get to boss around people working in retail type positions, waitresses, or guys pumping my gas.
I'd have a servant just to order the other servants and retail workers and waitresses around and I'd be completely comfortable with that.

Yes, I realize I'm a snob. It's my way of life.

[Yeti]

He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.
~Plato

[Echewta]

Make me into spegetti for a fake meal
~Play Doh

[Yeti]

You are going to have the Germans spitting out beer.

[Echewta]

I can always recover by throwing out David Hasselhoff

[Dorothy Wood]

The older I get, the more I realize that I enjoy knowing I'm better than others and I have no problem letting those below me know it.
Right now I just get to boss around people working in retail type positions, waitresses, or guys pumping my gas.
I'd have a servant just to order the other servants and retail workers and waitresses around and I'd be completely comfortable with that.

Yes, I realize I'm a snob. It's my way of life.


I hope you're kidding. If not, fuck you. karma will catch up to you, and I bet you've ingested your fair share of other people's bodily fluids.

[Adam]

.

[nodanaonlyzuul]

Personal chef and a maid, please.

[MC Moot]

You need servants...seriously...do you know how hard it is to organize and pull off a proper fox hunt without them?...plus who else will cut the crusts from my little cucumber sandwhiches for high tea?...

:rolleyes:

[M|X|Y]

i would not have a problem being an employer to someone, no

i have known of housekeepers who make up close to $70,000 a year (y)

[MC Moot]

My grandfathers best friend was the Spanish ambasador to Egypt for many,many years and he had a servant who's entire family lineage had been in service to his family for over 150 years,generation after generation...when the old boy died he left his last servant,whom he knew since birth and was really more like a son,millions of dollars worth of Egyptian antiquity's as well as the bulk of the rest of his estate...also every offspring of that family was sent abroad for an entirely paid for post secondary British education...that's my kind of exceptional servitude and reward...(y)

[Myu-to]

Tricia and I have some good arrangements. She cooks, and I do the dishes. She washes and folds clothes, and I put them away. I used to do all of the yard work, but we moved into a new subdivision, and to keep everything looking just right they provide a weekly yard service which I'm still trying to get comfortable with. I'm just to used to doing things myself. I love to drive too much to have a driver. So I guess not really, although I do dislike doing dishes.

[M|X|Y]

I would love to have a driver and someone to just take care of my clothes.

I hate doing laundry and looking for parking

[M|X|Y]

My grandfathers best friend was the Spanish ambasador to Egypt for many,many years and he had a servant who's entire family lineage had been in service to his family for over 150 years,generation after generation...when the old boy died he left his last servant,whom he knew since birth and was really more like a son,millions of dollars worth of Egyptian antiquity's as well as the bulk of the rest of his estate...also every offspring of that family was sent abroad for an entirely paid for post secondary British education...that's my kind of exceptional servitude and reward...(y)

interesting(y)