Thoughts on Domestic Labor

When I was really young, probably before I was even in Kindergarten, my family had a nanny that took care of me and my sisters for a few years while both my parents were busy working. Unfortunately I don’t have distinct memories of her, but I have seen pictures when she went to Sea World with our family. We called her “Ah-Gou”, which I think is an informal way of saying nanny, or aunty in Chinese, but her real name was Maria. I talked to my older sister and she thinks that Ah-Gou was with our family for about 4 years. I really thought a lot about how people like Maria spend a few years taking care of children, as if they were her own, playing with them, feeding them, cleaning up after them, and it makes me feel really guilty for not having much of a recollection of the time I spent with her. My sister told me that she had some health problems and my parents had taken her to see some doctors in, but even today I don’t know where she went after taking care of us for four years, or what she’s doing now. 

I think it’s important to see from the perspective of the people who are part of the domestic labor force and I really enjoyed watching “Black Girl” because it offered a perspective that we, the more privileged middle/upper class, don’t often realize. An example that I have is from something that I am currently experiencing, living in a residence hall at USC. The cleaning staff in the building I live in are all really nice and very helpful, but I see on a daily basis how there is a separation between the students and cleaning staff. I think we often forget to appreciate how much they do for us. Instead of thanking them when we pass by them on our way out, we complain that they vacuum the halls too early in the morning. Instead of taking a few minutes out of our day to talk to them, I hear people complaining that they’ve inconveniently closed the bathroom, so they can clean it. Considering they have to clean up after a bunch of teenagers, which is no easy task, and the other numerous challenges they face, the least we can do it treat them as equals and with respect, instead of just “the help”.