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I have three eunuchs who work as my seat warmers, jesters, food tasters (usually when I'm not looking), paper shredders, and general companions...all in exchange for food and attention.
I have three eunuchs who work as my seat warmers, jesters, food tasters (usually when I'm not looking), paper shredders, and general companions...all in exchange for food and attention.
LOL! I've got a couple of those myself, but I never think of them as productive, ya know?
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
I'm surprised by how many people don't employ anyone. How do you guys find the time to do everything?
I don't know. I lurk on a parenting board that seems to have a high percentage of middle and upper-middle class people. It had a similar poll a few months ago, and I was really surprised at the number of people who have house cleaners, gardeners and nannies, especially. Even households with stay-at-home moms.
I consider ourselves to be middle class and we have none of these unless you want to count the guy who started coming through my subdivision offering to cut lawns and do other yard work on the cheap. By the end of the summer, he was cutting every lawn that I can see from my front yard. LOL It would be a stretch to call him my "gardener" though. LOL
Maybe it's regional and the social circles you run in.
It is pretty regional. In Southern Clalifornia we had a "gardener" and some house cleaners. It made no sense not to. The Gardener would do our lawn for $15 a month (cut twice a month). He did everyone elses at the same time, so he was making about $50 and hour. His kids did some places while he did other and he probably paid his kids little or nothing, so he could have been making $100 per hour. It was not worth buying and maintaing a mower for the tiny lawns the most people have.
The house cleaners were a little bit more expensive, but not much. They had three or four people and did a really thorough job in one hour for about $60. I think they came once a month, maybe twice.
Pretty much everyone we knew had someone cut their lawn. Anyone making over 100K had cleaners (in So. Cal. 100K is pretty much middle middle class for a family, maybe a bit below the middle of the middle class).
In Michigan we do not know anyone who pays to have someone cut their lawn. OUr lawns are much much larger. Many people use garden tractors and it is kind of a status symbol to have a nice tractor. Many people buy way more tractor than they need. They like to leave them in the front yard for everyone to see. Some people have a 20+ H.P. machine for a yard that is less than 1 acre. (In california they buy fancy cars and clothing, but it is the same concept).
House cleaners are more rare and more expensive, but many housholds with double income earners and kids have someone come in at least once a month. The cost has come down as more and more people lost jobs and decided to go into the house cleaning business.
Paying for snow removal is very common, but that is on a 1 at a time basis. Small drives and wlaks they usually give neighborhood ids a few bucks to do. Long driveways (like ours) can cost as much as $80 - $120 per time. thus many people buy snowblowers or get a blower or a blade for their garden tractor. Those people with a 30 HP tactor for a 1/2 acre lot often but 48" snow bowers for their tractor to blow out their 18' driveway. It is funny.
It is pretty regional. In Southern Clalifornia we had a "gardener" and some house cleaners. It made no sense not to. The Gardener would do our lawn for $15 a month (cut twice a month). He did everyone elses at the same time, so he was making about $50 and hour. His kids did some places while he did other and he probably paid his kids little or nothing, so he could have been making $100 per hour. It was not worth buying and maintaing a mower for the tiny lawns the most people have.
Funny. I meant to add in my original post that it seems that everyone on that board who lives in Southern California has a gardener. LOL Interesting. Although, from your description, it sounds like the guy who cuts our grass. I was imagining something more fancy.
I don't know. I lurk on a parenting board that seems to have a high percentage of middle and upper-middle class people. It had a similar poll a few months ago, and I was really surprised at the number of people who have house cleaners, gardeners and nannies, especially. Even households with stay-at-home moms.
I consider ourselves to be middle class and we have none of these unless you want to count the guy who started coming through my subdivision offering to cut lawns and do other yard work on the cheap. By the end of the summer, he was cutting every lawn that I can see from my front yard. LOL It would be a stretch to call him my "gardener" though. LOL
Maybe it's regional and the social circles you run in.
Who has a "boot boy"?
I lived in the wealthiest suburb in St Louis when I was a child, nobody had a "boot boy".
You forgot to list poop scooper. Many people in the area where I live hire poop scooping companies to take care of their back yards.
It's usually just one or two guys in a little truck, they jump out at each home, run to the back yard and quickly pick up doggie waste. Then they jump back in and drive to the next house.
I clean up after my own dogs, but many people don't. I see these little trucks all over the place.
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