Shared stories by domestic workers

Traveling by public transport on daily basis gives you an insight on what other people do. It could be their families, work, about their lives etc. By sitting you can learn a lot about people. Sometimes after work, I travel by train for this I wait about 40 minutes for the train. While waiting different people arrives, some have known each other for more than ten years because they have traveled together in public transport.

There are a lot of stories shared during the waiting for the train period. Maybe to give the light of the kind of people I share the platform with (station) mostly are domestic workers. These ladies also dominate with telling their stories especially when it rains, everybody shelters under the foot bridge because the shelters are useless (you can still get wet). What I have observed, especially on story telling days one of the ladies will come with something that the employer gave them, it could be clothing, food, furniture, blankets etc. Its a culture to them to ask 'What is in the bag?' and then they will share the contents if the owner is not interested in what the boss gave. Others even sell.

The whole point of writing this today is what I have learned about the hardships these women who happen to be cleaning or taking care of other people's houses, children and even their pets experience behind the closed doors. One of these woman have worked for more than seven years in a particular family, she still earns less than R800. She starts work at seven in the morning till five in the afternoon.

Another lady thought that working for whites was better than working for Indians. She does all the housekeeping but the plate, spoon, the cup she uses for tea is not placed in the house, and she is not allowed to wash 'her dishes' in the house, she must use the tap outside of the house. I asked her, if they told her why must she not put her dishes with theirs or use the sink. She just said:'Oh, my child I have accepted, what can I do I am only a domestic worker.'

Yes, there are those when given an opportunity they become the owners of the house, watching TV, using Madam's lotion, perfume, nail polish etc. And they enjoy this part, they claim they are not payed enough money... I can blame them but really some people don't appreciate the fact that we are nothing without the next person. What struck me most was the FOOD part of it. They live on bread and tea, and most of them hates bread but they have no choice, they are underpaid and they can't bring food from home because children must eat. If it was me, for someone that I could trust with my house I will make sure that I treat them properly.