Servants

Servants, Maids, Domestics. They go by several different titles. Many people have them around here. They clean houses, do laundry, cook, take care of the eldery, take care of babies, etc. I have heard that they get bored and will run away. Some say that there is abuse that goes on, sometimes abuse towards the servant and sometimes abuse by the servant. There are two servants that work at the place I live. They are both Chinese women. They only know hello, good morning, and ok. I was told when I signed my contract that I was not allowed to speak to them, because in the past renters have told them how to clean the rooms differently than they were told by the owner, and to try and cause a rebellion against the owner. Despite that they say hi to me or good morning, and I respond in return. The other day the owner was home, and I was not greeted by either servant nor did I greet them. Once the owner left they we gave our normal greeting. I have always know that the owner had nothing to worry about, but I didn't feel I should try to convince him of that. I think that he knows it now on his own. The other day I needed help with a problem and thought the owner was gone, so I went to tell the servant who's name I know. Well, she rushed upstairs and knocked on his door shouting. He was home but in the shower. There is a little slot in the window one can open to look out before opening the door. Well, he opened that and said he was in the washroom but would be out in 5 minutes. When he came out I told him the problem which he translated to the servant and got fixed. He told me later that he was going to be gone on Sunday and if there were any more problems to tell the servants to call his brother, who lives in town, and he would take care of the problem. He says we seem to have a communication problem.  I have figured that out (plus the fact that I would never try to overthrow him), so I am glad he has figured it out too.  They seem like nice ladies, and they take care of everything that the Mom (90's) needs.  They work hard. He has them clean the house everyday. I would think that it would get boring and how they might want to run away and do something else. They seem pretty happy though.
I don't know if they know my name, but I think if they give me a nickname to call me it would be jumpy. When I get lost in thought it is easy to startle me. A week ago a couple ladies were visiting the Mom (I refer to her as the grandma for future reference since she is closer to a grandma's age than my mom's age.) I was standing outside the front door putting on my shoes, and I was bent over. One of the old ladies walked up to the other side of the gate on the front door and spoke to me. I jumped because I was thinking about something and didn't hear her walk up. Tonight I was in the kitchen refilling my water bottle and turned to leave, and there is a short hallway into the eating area. Well, one of the servants was coming the other direction, and she startled me because I didn't hear her.  I jumped and was like ahh, so then we both started laughing. It was pretty funny. When she came back later she started humming when she got to the hallway.  I am sure there will be many more times that I get started while I live here. When people enter a house they take off their shoes. I wear either socks or my shower shoes around the house so they can hear me, but they both go barefoot and can walk very quietly.