I hadn't really thought about the unintended consequences of having hundreds of thousands of non-South Africans coming through our borders. That is, until this morning when I phoned my mother for a short chat ( it's my younger sister's birthday and I think mothers should also get calls on this day because they're the ones who put in the hard work:-)
Anyhoo, Mma was fine overall. But she also admitted that she hasn't had domestic help for a couple of weeks. I'd known the helper I hired last year to take care of her was from Lesotho, and she goes home about once a month to visit family and buy them groceries etc. Usually, all Ntswaki needs is a work permit to be able to travel between SA and Lesotho ( very legal, I think it's part of SA's arrangement with Lesotho). But border control is now soo tight now with the 2010 tournament that they are now demanding a passport from her. Which Ntswaki didn't have, and even if she does apply for it now, it will be weeks before she gets it. So she's waiting out the soccer tournament, and will come over when things get back to normal. Huh!
It's no great train smash for Mma, who is still active enough to take care of herself, and lives with quite a few adult people who are capable of keeping the house clean, doing laundry and preparing meals. The helper was mostly for my own peace of mind, especially when Mma fell ill last year and didn't eat well ( she's diebetic and has high blood pressure).
Anyway, the annoying thing about this situation is that Mma is trying to use Ntswaki's absence to win the old argument of whether she should have a daily helper or not. Mma argues she can still do for herself. I say the house is too big, and whatever energy she has should be spent doing what she likes, not chasing dust bunnies. And she's a terrible eater. Left to herself, she'll mostly eat sandwiches and fish and chips, not the salads and soups I have the helper make.
Good thing I had the good sense to hire someone from out of town, and to pay the helper myself, even though Mma could easily afford it. She can't fire someone she didn't hire and doesn't pay, can she?
As for work today, I was kinda slow. I have two big meetings tomorrow, and I don't feel ready. It's like there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything that I need to do. The only blessing is that my brain does seem to work:-)
Published a feature article on reasons it's hard to have only one sexual partner and to remain faithful to that partner. Yeah, there were a lot of readers who didn't get why it's difficult. For them it was like, "you're with someone, so you're faithful. If you don't like it, walk!"
But many more readers gave a list....add to it, challenge it or just join the discussion if you have a minute.
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