The Cleaning Crews
I have three crews of Hispanic (mostly Mexican in heritage, I believe) workers that do things around this household. I suspect I am like almost everybody here is Southern California to some degree or another and perhaps like lots of people all across the United States. Such is the nature of the Hispanic diaspora, it reaches to every corner as people just try to find a place to live a peaceful life better than the one they left behind. Those of us who spent time living in New York City saw this phenomenon in the taxi cabs and street vendor population. Whatever new immigrants were in town, they very quickly swarmed the worker bee cash economy such that everyone in a given arena seemed to be of similar ethnic origin. They were all trying to learn English and assimilate to some degree, but I’ll bet most were also inclined to keep as much of their cultural roots as possible by living collectively with and around others of like background and cultural norms. That is the beauty of America and it has always been so. Sometimes people came for religious persecution, sometimes they came due to economic hardship, and yet others came for the more generic and forward looking opportunity set that makes the work of life a mission of collective enrichment and improvement. Bravo to all those brave souls who leave the known for the unknown. They are the members of the species that allow us to evolve in a positive direction and make the world better for all inhabitants. Some will argue that very differently, but that is the purpose of this story, to state my case for why this is almost always a good thing for us all.
My three crews consist of a cleaning crew run my a older Hispanic woman of quite refined taste and manners who speaks English every bit as well as you or I, but who cracks the whip with her squad of young Hispanic women who come en masse in their own minivan (probably provided by their boss-lady) with one of them acting as designated driver (who probably has the best papers among them) and the simple implements of their trade. They spread out through the the house and grounds and clean everything with a procedure that has clearly been outlined for them from the boss’ years of domestic experience. She doesn’t miss a trick and they don’t miss a trick and everything is spic and span at the end of two hours. In addition to the usual compensation, these young women get first dibs on anything we do not need any longer and want to toss. We triaged our Christmas decorations this year and these young women snatched up every last bit of them for their family holiday cheer. When our regular Thursday cleaning day came to Thanksgiving, we just let them work on that day because its been a tough year and they all asked for the added work. Anyone who wants to work should be afforded the opportunity and so we make sure to do so.
The gardening team, headed first by Juventino and now his father, Benito assisted by Sebastian work steadily for ten hours with only a short break in the shade for their lunch. When I have tried to send them home early with all of their day’s pay (I pay them generously as well), they linger and sheepishly keep working in the manner they have been taught. We have 2.5 acres with half of that occupied by a prolific cactus and succulent garden set amongst the boulders. They know every inch of the property better than I do and keep it all clear of weeds and debris. I remain very impressed with their work ethic and their in-depth horticultural knowledge. Last week I asked if they could trim the dead growth off the twin 40’ palm trees by the garage. I wasn’t sure if they could tackle such high work, but Sebastian said he had the boot spikes to do it and would bring them next time.
The third team are the day-laborers, Victor and Miguel. They have been on the deck job for three weeks now and are happy for the work. Before them, during the games area work, we used Gildardo and Pablo. These day laborers expect and get free lunch from us and most often I take on that obligation on myself and dutifully take their orders for Taco Bell, the Market Deli, the Pizzeria, and once even Panda Express. I find it fun to tell these young men that my step-brother is the famous Mexican soccer announcer on Televisa Azteca named Andre Marin. They immediately know who he is and feel a bond with me accordingly. I enjoy the connection to these hard-working guys who happily work at anything requested for eight hours , not knowing where they will be working for the next day or next week. I sometimes find that I wish I had even more work to give them, but the only thing worse than not having work for them is hiring them and then not having enough work for them, so they sit around feeling guilty.
These are honorable hard-working people who just want the opportunity to turn their labor into a better life for themselves and their families (most of these men and women have children they support). These people are noble and I hate hearing them decried as the great unwashed wave of immigrants that are trying to suck the blood of our land. They do nothing of the sort. They add value in extremis and I, for one, am glad to have them around to do work for me. I literally NEVER have a complaint with their work and I always feel they earn their living honestly and fairly.
I am also now hiring three aging handymen in the rebuilding of my deck. I pay them an amount that ranges based on their skills, but none of them is unfairly priced relative to the laborers I hire. In fact, I gave Handy Brad a voluntary hourly raise of 25% when I realized that he was earning the same amount as the day laborers, which clearly needed some adjustment. He now earns what I pay my cousin for caring for my house in Ithaca, which is a fair sum after-tax. Another fellow I paid exactly the amount he requested with no haggling (that just happened to be at the Handy Brad level). And then the third, who is a skilled carpenter, I had to try to negotiate UP from a lower level that he wanted because he somehow felt guilty at the higher price. With all three, I expect to give them a discretionary bonus at the end of the job because I am happy with their work and I like the idea of incentivizing people to want to work for me again if the opportunity arises.
At the end of the day the only thing that separates the three Hispanic crews and my three Honchos on the deck job is wisdom and experience. They all earn about the same amount for their efforts with a bit extra on top for experience. That is a pattern I like and an approach to egalitarianism that resonates with me. And the funny thing in my little hilltop Utopia is that everyone is happy for the work and happy with the workplace, so something is right about it.