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updated 27 Oct 2010, 13:38
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Wed, Oct 27, 2010
The New Paper
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Teach kids to respect maids
by S Murali

OKAY folks, I think it’s time for us to start worrying about the Maid-Generation.

I’m talking here about the “kids” in our midst who grow upwith maids taking care of their every need.

What’s my problem?

I think we have a real issue of many of them becoming spoilt rotten by the time they become adults. I’m sure you have already encountered the kind of people I am talking about.

You know, the ones who treat service staff like dirt and their domestic workers like indentured servants.

I saw a couple of chubby kids at the swimming pool the other day, kicking their maid for not taking out their toys quickly enough, while their parents sat nearby, sipping their lattes and wearing cool shades.

These kids will probably grow up believing that they have a god-given right to mistreat others. And fully grown, the Maid-Generation adult can become a real terror.

They are the louts who think they can park anywhere they like and be outraged when they are hit with a fine. It is these ogres who punch, bite, pinch and mistreat their domestic workers and then argue that the “maid deserved it because she is so stupid”.

It is these miscreants who drive on the road after a night of drinking, thinking they won’t get caught and believing that they can afford any fine thrown at them anyway.

What we need is for someone to slap them out of that delusion. And I’m afraid that the job lies with us parents. We have to make sure our Maid-Generation kids have the right values.

Many of us grew up without maids and learnt how to do chores around the house. We worked during the holidays to earn an extra income and even paid our way through school.

But since life is better now for us, we put our kids in this cocooned environment, where there is a real risk they might end up thinking the world owes them a living.

What do I do on my part?

One of the elders

My kids call our helper “Aunty” and are never allowed to be rude to her. She is one of the elders in the family and the two kids need to treat her as such. Whenever I spot rude behaviour, the correction is immediate.

Aunty Charmila is here to help us take care of them, along with their grandmother, while mum and dad are out at work.

As the kids grow older, they will be given specific chores to do around the house, so that the reliance on others becomes less.

My wife and I also plan to encourage them to work during their school holidays, when they are of age, so that they realise the value of money. Trips, treats and toys will have to be earned, with good behaviour, good results and good manners.

Will all of this help avoid turning my kids into Maid-Generation, Me-First Miscreants?

I really hope so. Otherwise, I will smack them out of that egotistical stupor, however big they get.

I promise.

This article was first published in The New Paper.

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