The help

yinka ogunlami

September 26, 2016 3:24 PM

‘‘… It then got me thinking. This is an act of rebellion. So I changed. Fool me once, shame of you! Fool me twice, shame on me…’’

The help

So Nigeria has made me SUPER lazy, like DIVA lazy!

Growing up the oldest I helped my mum a lot with my siblings. Cooking, cleaning and helping them to get ready for school and what not. But coming here has stripped me of my "Domestic Goddess" skills due to my Dad's house boy, we'll call him Jerry.

Jerry does everything; the cooking and cleaning and he's here round the clock.

I remember when I was younger that was the dream! To have a butler and maid. So that I didn't have to do any of the house work but in reality it was really uncomfortable. Would you believe me if I told you that I resented it at first? Literally have him follow me round the house to pick up after me. When my glass was half full, he'd re-fill it. Saw me washing a plate and feel betrayed that I lifted afinger. It wasn't cool. I didn't like it.

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Let us fast forward 8 and a half months later and I feel comfortable calling him upstairs to change my sheets, iron the clothes, mop the floors, cook my lunch. Am I proud to admit that? No. But I just can'tbelieve how much I've changed since then. I know it's not a good thing but here, it is completely normal to have help if you have enough money to pay for one.

So from the beginning as I said I was annoyed by it. But I was nice, we shared jokes... Mostly around my accent but it was cool. It was all good, but then I noticed things had a change for the worst. He began to only dish food for my Dad, reply to me with an attitude and I couldn't understand why. I thought we were friends...

Dad then explained that I shouldn't be friends with 'The Help' because the line is then blurred. Instead of it being a job it then moves to a favour, though you are the one paying them. I wondered why it had to be that way. Why can't I be nice and him still do his job properly?

So basically Jerry started to get worse. Not just to me but it escalated to my family too. He gave my brother Ogi that wasn't cooked properly, left the sugar container open so that ants got to it. He ruined my Step Mum's new dress from Dubai with an iron and "forgot" to arrange my Dads shirts for work. Stopped answering our phone calls. Stepping out the compound without telling us. It then got me thinking. This is an act of rebellion.

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He also gets a weekly allowance on top of his income for food. So I was annoyed to find him eating from the pot with his hands. My eyes widened with rage (My eyes can get scarily big) and he apologized profusely. You see, it's past the point of being tired of your job orwhatever. That's just disrespectful, no?

So I changed. Fool me once, shame of you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I put my foot down. He was shocked. No more smiles. He felt uncomfortable and then I noticed he started to be nice again, checking up to make sure that everything was okay. It's though he remembered what his job was.

I've learnt my lesson. I wanted house help from a child. That was a dream of mine and I'm not going to lie to you. It still is. Why not have that luxury when you have the money? But you have to manage itwell in order for them not to take you for a ride.

Catch you later!

yinka ogunlami