Cold & Heartless

It is wonderful to experience rain again in Melbourne. It has been dry for such a long time that I was beginning to believe that Victoria may become a desert. The rain brought back some bad memories of a lousy day a few years ago when I was soaked on my way to work.

I was looking after Millie and Olivia in Toorak that day when I had to take the bus because the tram was usually jam packed on such a rainy day. Because the bus stop was further away from the children’s house, I had to walk a longer distance. I used to enjoy that walk on fine days because I got the chance to clear my thoughts before starting work. Unfortunately the rain was unusually heavy that day. It was virtually pouring down sideways at times. While I did have my umbrella with me (Mary Poppins always carry hers) it wasn’t providing enough coverage for me. By the time that I entered the house I was soaked from my knee down. I don’t think that Mary Poppin’s long coat would have given me any better coverage if I had been wearing it.

Alexandra was the first to notice my jeans. Naturally, she took it as her job to announce it to the whole house and made a mockery of me. I forgave this little cheeky one but the adults were also joining in as well. I was referred to as being ‘silly’ for getting so wet. The girls’ Mum was quick to declare that they couldn’t offer me anything to change into. The girls’ Dad suggested that I go home to get changed but offered no solutions as to what to do with Millie and baby Olivia if I went. It was still raining and if I left taking the public transport, I was bound to be just as wet on my way back. They weren’t prepared to pay for a taxi to take me home or bring me back. He left before the mum but just as he was leaving, I overheard him giving his wife the order that I shouldn’t be offered any towels because that’s how infection is passed on. Later when she was leaving to take Alexandra to the Kindergarten, the mum said nothing to me but Alexandra, who overheard the conversation, warned, “Do not use our towels. You are not allowed to. My daddy said that.” As usual, her mum didn’t want to start a ‘war’ with Alexandra at this time of the day because she would look terribly bad in front of the teachers and other parents if Alexandra arrived in a bad mood or was crying. On top of that, she was looking forward to a day doing her own things. She then told me, “We have recently given away all of our old towels.”

I wanted them to leave the house too. The house is really chaotic when everyone is home. The younger two are very peaceful children. They were in my care soon after birth and were very used to my calm routine. As soon as the door was shut, I took Millie with me to change Olivia before serving them breakfast. I didn’t start thinking about my wet jeans until I was half way through feeding Olivia. I tried to call home to see if anyone was around to deliver me another pair of jeans/pants. Unfortunately, no one was home. (Who would be at that time of the morning when the average person is likely to be out working?) I sat there wondering what I should do. Even though I was consciously aware that I only had a spare T-shirt and a pair of spare ‘undies’ carefully and discreetly packed in my backpack, I checked it twice just in case there was a pair of pants and a pair of socks. Once I settled the girls to play in the living room with the Plasma TV turned on to show Playschool (Yes, this is one of those households where TV must be turned on to pacify the children), I came back to the kitchen to clean up the mess left there by the adults from the previous night’s dinner. (Never assume that everyone living in Toorak keeps a live in cleaner/cook and never assume that adults in this part of Melbourne are capable of cleaning up after themselves.) I felt angry that they must really have thought that I was ‘germy’. If I was really so germy and dangerous to come into contact with, why did they hire me to look after their three precious little Aussiemites? And yes, they did give away some towels when they replenished the linen wardrobe with new fluffy towels a year or so before this. No, I didn’t dig in and help myself while no one was looking. After all, fine Egyptian cotton towels are not made for a lowly nanny.

I thought that I wasn’t at par with them because I was just a nanny. I didn’t expect them to apply the same treatment to a relative living in the neighbouring South Yarra. I was about to take the two younger girls out to the park one afternoon, when the girlfriend of the mum’s younger brother arrived to ask for some quick assistance. This younger brother is a plumber living with his girlfriend in South Yarra. I shall call him Fred here.

I heard that Fred was scheduled for a nose surgery. A few days later, he was discharged from the hospital and was driven home by his girlfriend. On the way home, he had a nose bleed all of a sudden. As they were driving past the house the girlfriend thought that they should ask for some old shirts and towels. She went to the door while he stayed in the car in lots of pain. She asked to speak to the children’s mum who wasn’t home. She started to walk in but I had to refuse entry right there. I didn’t mean to be rude but I had been told to refuse entry to anyone except for the children, their parents, and their paternal grandma; unless if I had been otherwise notified. She requested for any old shirts or towels/tea towels at the door. After experiencing the previous episode with the rainstorm, I thought I had better ask the mum first. I called her and told her what had happened. To my big surprise she told me to tell them that all of the old clothes and towels/tea towels had been given away. She told me that there wasn’t anything that fit Fred. I was also warned not to let the couple into the house to have a look around. I did just as I was told and passed on the message. The girlfriend then left looking like she was in shock. Later that day, the mum came home with Alexandra and asked me to tell her what had occurred again. After this she told me that I had done the right thing, as her husband’s clothes are very expensive.

Fred is not a stranger. He and his girlfriend occasionally looked after Alexandra before I began working for them. They were still looking after the girls every now and then whenever I was not available to work on the weekends. I have met him and had lots of conversations and he seems like a good bloke. If he or his girlfriend were not trusted to enter the home then, how come they were trusted to look after the girls?

The truth is that I was very tempted to at least give Fred’s girlfriend a clean tea-towel. I didn’t because I have my orders. How much is a tea towel? I am absolutely sure that they didn’t have Egyptian cotton tea towels. The ones they had were the usual ones that can be purchased from places like Big W or Kmart. Believe me; I have seen expensive napkins and tea towels at other work places. I felt sorry that Fred and his girlfriend were not offered any help when they clearly needed it. I also felt sorry that the children’s parents didn’t see the need to lend a helping hand when they were clearly capable of doing so.