Having servants, makes you not do much of anything, that makes you FAT then.
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*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Wwhen everyone has servants, they can't really brag about it, can they? MAJORITY women in Pakistan, who live in cities don't work outside jobs (this is rapidly changing with higher cost of living and more ambitious girls). So, thats all they do: socializing, gossiping, taking care of the kids/home etc. All of them have some or the other form of domestic help.
Its like you brag about "hey! I have a dishwasher"... what will the other say - "Big deal!". Right? Its same over there about servants.
When these same aunties are living in Pakistan, they are probably complaining about the servants non-stop.. kaam nahi karta, khanay mein nakhray karta hai, susst hai, paisay choree karr liyay etc etc. When they move to Canada, phir qadar aatee hai, aur phir everything in Pakistan is rosy for them. "Ah, we miss the comfort of our home there"... Phir kisss nay kaha thaa idher aanay. Baithay raho waheen araam say!
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Majority don't have servants though. Are the majority wealthy in Pakistan? As far as I know, the answer is no. The majority are the middle to lower class people who do their own work. Having servants is a sign of wealth and an obvious sign of class differences between the 'haves' and 'have nots'.
In repsonse to Majestic
Ever heard of a slim Aunty???
[quote]
Majority don't have servants though. Are the majority wealthy in Pakistan? As far as I know, the answer is no. The majority are the middle to lower class people who do their own work. Having servants is a sign of wealth and an obvious sign of class differences between the 'haves' and 'have nots'.
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Well thats not entirely true...more and more of the majority are getting part time servants who come in for odd jobs. I think part time cleaning help has been present for a long time.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by MehnazQ: *
Majority don't have servants though. Are the majority wealthy in Pakistan? As far as I know, the answer is no. The majority are the middle to lower class people who do their own work. Having servants is a sign of wealth and an obvious sign of class differences between the 'haves' and 'have nots'.
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Nahi ji.. Aap ko Pakistan gayay buhat arsaa ho giya hai.. Even middle class people, have atleast a jamadarni coming in to clean.
Then again, you may have a point. A vast majority of people in Pakistan are below the line of middle class. Maybe you are talking about them. I don't know. I don't mix with people who have less than 5 servants in their homes.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
Then again, you may have a point. A vast majority of people in Pakistan are below the line of middle class. Maybe you are talking about them. I don't know. I don't mix with people who have less than 5 servants in their homes.
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Well then that just makes you a snob! :)
Well, if that makes you happy. Point proven. :)
Bhaee aap apnay level ke logoN ki baat karein. Pooray Pakistan ke 140 million ka tau mujhay nahi pata.
in a nutshell , its a status symbol, my family in pak have servents, and one of my uncles has a driver.. and even my aunt had a little girl named taji to take care of her newborn daughter, she doesnt do a damn thing. Its a luxury not a necessity, but if u got it u got it..
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by punjab da sher: *
in a nutshell , its a status symbol, my family in pak have servents, and one of my uncles has a driver.. and even my aunt had a little girl named taji to take care of her newborn daughter, she doesnt do a damn thing. Its a luxury not a necessity, but if u got it u got it..
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My point exactly!
Faisal, your posts speak volumes about your mentality.
In my openion, having this kind of luxury makes people very lazy and dependent. The Masi cleans and mop the floor which doesn't even take half an hour. Now why can't i move around my hands and legs and do the same instead of sitting there watching the masi doing the work??
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by MehnazQ: *
Faisal, your posts speak volumes about your mentality.
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Do you have even a little sense of humor or is it all wasted by now?
Sheesh!
I am trying to push your buttons and I see it is working! :nahnah:
Good… so now you are displaying your own mentality :k:
in my susraal we always had servant becos my mother in law was sick and on bed , she had not any daughter who could help her so wahaN zarorat thee , now we stil have one afghani servant there cz my susar jee is alone and need someone to make food etc ,in my maikaa ppl have servants cozthey can afford 2-3 servants and 1 driver, all my aunts are healthy and can do everything but they dont coz according to them agar wo afford kar sakteeN haiN too why not ? it is a status symbol for them ...
Yup! When faced with an arrogant know-it-all, you just have to let it go rather than trying to talk sense into a brick wall. 
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by mehroo: *
...in my maikaa ppl have servants cozthey can afford 2-3 servants and 1 driver, all my aunts are healthy and can do everything but they dont coz according to them agar wo afford kar sakteeN haiN too why not ? it is a status symbol for them ...
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My point exactly!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by MehnazQ: *
Yup! When faced with an arrogant know-it-all, you just have to let it go rather than trying to talk sense into a brick wall. :)
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You think its a "status symbol", whereas I don't think so. Where is the arrogance in it?
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*Originally posted by Faisal: *
You think its a "status symbol", whereas I don't think so. Where is the arrogance in it?
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It's in your speech, not in your beliefs. :)
perhaps for some, it can be considered as a luxury. ppl in pak can avail this facility/luxury, just as some luxuries are part of ppl's lives in the west (and henceforth would not be considered as one).
two different socities. different ways of living.
one adjust's according to his/her own environment and the facilities provided by that society. soo whats the fuss all about.
i never really thought of it as a luxury perhaps cause' we had this extra help, the so called luxury, since i was a little kid. coming to think of
it, it really is considered a necessity back in pak. if you are living in a 8/9 bed room house, it can be hard to maintain it on your own. and then if both of your parents are working; would they rather spend time with their family and hire some extra help OR do the housework themselves. well, i would like my parents to spend some quality time with us rather then in the kitchen or in the garden.. doing house chores.
bottom line: if you have a facility and you can afford it; avail it. just like any other luxury/facility [regardless of where you live]; this can be misused.
interestingly, you hear ppl saying things like "you were so lucky"..
[duh] [jealous] :-P
it is quite understandable cause' its common not to have maids in the west. one of the reaons could be that the labour is really expensive.
and so on. i have never missed that extra help once; cause' i never really needed it over here. and i like doing things on my own; my way. :-D
instead of weining and complaining, ppl should realize that two different societies would obviously have different norms defined for them.
as far as mistreating and having some standard laws for this are considered. I think for now, the answer to this would depend more on the family (the one who is hiring) itself. its a question of common deceny and being humane. for the latter, i haven't really heard of any kind of labour laws in that part of the world. besides, i believe there are other important issues to be dealt with and this perhaps would be some where at the bottom on the list (if it is even there in the first place) of our great leaders. well, there is no such thing as a "perfect society".
on a side note, i don't like the term servants. it sounds kind of mean. i would rather prefer house keepers or maid's or something like that.
not to mention this help comes in various types: cook, driver, gardener, guard ... depends on which type of help you need :-D
heartbeat
I think very few ppl are making an argument thats its wrong to have domestic help, but that its a luxury, not a necessity. Thats it.