CONVERSATIONS IN MY HEAD - DIARY SIX

"Why do people, women especially, treat their maids so badly?" I asked.

"Well, they don't see them as human beings" Ara replied.

"Oh, they're not human, yet, they're expected to work their fingers off serving their madams."

"When it comes to work, they are human, outside of that, they cease to exist."

"And that's fair on what level?"

"Life isn't fair."

"But, we're the ones that make up life. Why can't we just be considerate of each other?" I asked, exasperated.

"You think the world can get to a place of bliss? It was meant to be like that initially, but then, man lost that bliss."

"If I didn't bite my tongue now, I was on the verge of letting loose something I would have regretted the moment it came out. I agree we can't all be good, but we can have majority being good, can't we?" Ara did not respond to me. He looked away from me, swinging his leg. I waited for him to say something but he didn't. I continued.

"I saw this woman, gorgeously and very well dressed. She looked really good. Her help was right behind her, in a social event where everyone was gayly dressed, and she was wearing rubber slipper, bathroom slippers! I cringed. That should not be."

"You know what they say about giving someone a little room and they go the whole hog right? The madam is probably trying to clip her wings. She doesn't want her getting out of control."

"When did meanness become a tool of control? What happened to gentle correction? What happened to earning respect?"

"You know some of those helps or maids, or whatever you choose to call them, are diabolically wicked."

"I think some of them became that because of the treatment meted out to them. Everyone has a self preservation instinct. Repeated meanness would activate the instinct. The only way they can pay their 'tormentor' back is by doing things that are equally mean or even more mean."

"You see the cycle? Why can't a mistreated maid take it in good faith and love her madam all the same?" Ara had a smirk on his face. He seemed to think he had scored a major point.

"For the sake of your life, living long and healthy and the protection of your kids, who you leave in the care of these helps, why won't you just be kind to them?"

"Don't ask me, I don't have a maid, a help, or whatever you call them."

"You're a fish you know?"