My Family’s Slave
I had a terrible &quot;Billy&quot; moment a few years ago.<p>I was travelling and a friend said I could use her house, because it was empty. This was perfect for me, since I had a wife and kid.<p>It turns out there was a housekeeper. She did everything for us, made us feel very comfortable, cooked, served, helped with the kid, etc.<p>Then one day I found out she didn&#x27;t have her own room, despite the place being a multi storey mansion. In fact, she slept on a mat in the kitchen. And not only that, there would be a phone call each morning to wake her up, from the master of the house. He didn&#x27;t want her to get too comfy while the family was out.<p>It was all a bit shocking. I still haven&#x27;t chatted to my friend about this, because what on earth do you say? And otherwise ordinary western educated person -in fact a feminist, globalist, left-leaning idealist- who has a slave? What if I&#x27;ve misunderstood something? Maybe my friend didn&#x27;t approve of it? Maybe he did? I&#x27;d never be able to talk to my friend again.<p>I got the housekeeper a present when we left, as she&#x27;d been so good at taking care of us. But naturally I didn&#x27;t enquire any further into her relationship with the family.<p>-------<p>My main thought is there&#x27;s a sort of Stockholm syndrome going on. Lola still had thoughts for her family back home, but she was so integrated in the new family it became part of her life, too. I guess it&#x27;s a coping mechanism. Even slaves need meaning in their lives, and taking care of kids is meaning.<p>-------<p>Ok, enough of moralizing. Actually I find it comforting that there is at least some sympathy for my predicament. At least one or two of you think it is possible that they would behave similarly. Or at least acknowledge the awkward situation.<p>I will talk to this friend in person next time I&#x27;m in that part of the world, which should be soon, about this incident, and get the full story of how their housekeeper lives.