In the past eight months I have changed five maids. Yeah, each maid lasted less than 2 months on the average.
The first one. I call her the Quite one. She is calm, does her work, minds her own business and hardly talks. Even when I try to strike a conversation with her. She does not complain of work either. She quit on her own as she was getting married. But she was damn good.Why do all good maids get married and go away?
Second - I call her the Demanding One. I was damn frightened of her. She does not notice the days when there is absolutely no work, but sure she notices the days when there are guests and more work. Should I also complain of those days when she came and was done with her work in less than 20 mins? She took 17 days off in a month and yet complained that I do not let her go on leave during festivals. Yeah somehow she thought festivals days are those when I am supposed to clean the house and she is supposed to go on a vacation. On top of that, she had too many demands. A mobile, saree, etc all brand new. No she wont settle for any less. And yeah she had preference of brands for floor cleaner, dishwasher etc.
Third - I call her the Cat Lady. It was easy to let her go, as some stuff was disappearing every other day from my home. She was smart. Every week she used to take a day off, randomly. It would look like that. Some Mondays, some Fridays, some weekdays. Just one day in a week. And she made sure she was at work on weekends. Somehow no one noticed this( including the other 7 apartments that she was working) . And the day she took off in each apartment was different. Eventually, I got to know her scheme from my discussions with fellow neighbors. Yet I did not mind. Cause a day in a busy week did not really matter as long as she came on weekends when I really cook at home. As long as she came back the next day the work did not get piled up. Till I noticed that my personal belongings were gone one fine day. And the next day she was fired.
Fourth, the Talkative one. This lady talks so much that it was a torture session for me everyday. She thinks I am her best buddy. And in the middle of all this sweet talk she would have evaded at least two chores that she is supposed to do. Basically this lady was way poor in standards when compared to other maids that I have ever had. I had to redo most of the work. And when questioned she very innocently says "no didi, this cannot be cleaned". And eventually I had to show her and do it myself. Does she learn? No, only I was getting tired of telling how to do her job. But she somehow created this emotional guiltiness within me that it was hard to fire her.
Yeah I did fire her as well. Firing.just saying it makes you feel powerful, isn't it? . Not true. It was awkward. Especially with the last one who somehow got my sympathy. Personal talks have THAT effect on you? I should probably try it at my work: -P; -) . To all of the maids that I fired( second, third and fourth) I lied. I did not tell them why exactly. I told all of them that different lies. Say I was going away for a while and will call you back when we are back, that I decided to do it on my own as its just two of us etc. Even with the maid that was stealing stuff from my house.
What does all this mean? That I make a good or bad boss?
