We ALL Benefit from Human Labor

Last updated on: November 13, 2012 at 6:00 am by Rachel Marie Stone

We ALL Benefit from Human Labor 2012-11-13T06:00:59-04:00 Rachel Marie Stone

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It’s hard to know where to start in talking about what it is like here, but one has to start somewhere, I suppose.

One of the strangest things is that we have hired help. And I’m not talking about having a Molly Maid come in to tidy up once a week or so. We have a full-time servant who lives in—get this—servant quarters, or ‘boy’s quarters,’ as they are rather unfortunately called here—behind our house. He will tend the yard—include cutting the grass by hand–do some of the shopping, wash and iron our clothes, and clean the house.

This is a particularly odd thing for me, because not only have I never hired anyone to do domestic work, I take a sort of inverted pride in that. I clean up after myself, thank you very much. What can I say? My grandparents met at a Catholic Worker meeting. It’s in my blood to take pride in such things. Malawians who have been to the States know that hiring help is odd for us. One person said, “it’s because in your country you have machines to help you with all that. Here, we don’t.”

And so here, people do what machines do, almost without our thinking about them doing it. Servants cut the grass by hand with a long blade. They wash the clothes by hand in the sink, peg them up to dry in the sunshine, and then iron them crisp so as to kill any putsi-fly eggs. (Because putsi fly eggs? They embed into your skin and grow there until you get a boil out of which a WORM eventually emerges. So, yeah, you want those killed before slipping on your pants.)

One of the things I keep thinking about is how, while I might have been a proud part of the 99% (heck, even the 47%, a lot of the time) in the US, when I come here, I am the 1%. If you’re reading this, chances are, you are part of the global 1%. And yet I have done nothing to land here, and, chances are, neither have you. It’s by pure chance that I am the one hiring someone to do dirty work by hand for me instead of walking several kilometers, barefoot, from my village to ask someone to employ me.

Maybe you’re wondering why I don’t simply forgo hiring anyone and do this work myself, if I’m such a proud little pinko worker. It’s for two reasons, really; first, if I had to do all this work myself, I’d have no time for anything else, which kind of defeats the whole purpose of my being here, and, second, if I—with my resources—do not hire a Malawian, I am being very selfish by withholding a good job from someone who needs it.

The other thing I keep thinking about is this: at home, I am helped by people’s labor all the time. Who built my washing machine, the dishwasher, the food processor, the lawn mower, the vacuum, and all the dozens of other things that represent human labor put to my service? By now most of us are dimly aware that the conditions in factories where these machines are made leave much to be desired when it comes to human flourishing. My pride in not hiring someone in the US is a bit naïve, really: we all benefit from the labor of less-well-off people all the time.

It’s just easier to forget that when we’re pushing a lawnmower; harder to do when we are watching someone cut our grass, one blade-stroke at a time.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 12, 2012

In Malawi!

Next Post

November 14, 2012 Breastfeeding, Babywearing, Local Produce, and Free-Range Poultry

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "health" activism agriculture animals anorexia Anticipating anxiety art autumn Baking beauty beer Bible Big Food binge eating blogging body image Books Bread of Life breastfeeding brokenness candy cartoons celebrity chefs children chocolate Classical Duckfaces Connecting consumption cooking creation care creativity current events death Dessert diabetes Dieting Eating Together Emotional Eating fair trade Faith Family Fannie Farmer fast food fat talk Films Food Food Policy formula feeding Gardening gluten free Grace gratitude guest posts guilt HIV/AIDS holiday hospitality housekeeping Jesus Joy just for fun Justice kindness Local media moment of joy north fork, long island OI parties personal pharmaceuticals photo photography plumpy'nut popular culture poverty pregnancy Preserving real food recipes rest restaurants School Food Seasons spring starvation summer Table Talk taste television theology travel Tuesdays With Fannie Uncategorized winter

Select a Month April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 August 2014 May 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the first woman created by God?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mary Rebekah Sarah Eve