Who Needs People?

 
We've been discussing the pros and cons of hiring "people" to make our lives easier.  And for the life of me, every time my husband talks about hiring people, all that comes to mind are the words to the Barbara Streisand song "People, People who need people are the luckiest people in the world..." I'm pretty sure she wasn't singing about hiring lawn people or housekeepers, but the word association makes me giggle every time Dear Husband brings up hiring "people."

I guess I have a problem with the concept of hiring people.  It makes you seem lazy.  Call me crazy, but I grew up in a home where it was taught that if you were lucky enough to have something, you ought to be smart and strong enough to maintain it.  Thus, my parents handled all household management and maintenance.  And in my opinion, they did it all very competently. 

That said, I have friends and co-workers who have people to landscape, cook, clean, watch the children, drive them around, manage the home, walk the dog, clean the pool, personally train them in their homes, style them, decorate, fly them around in their personal jets, throw parties, and regularly do hair and make-up.  (I'm sure I've missed a few jobs too.)  This may seem excessive, but for some people this is normal.

It occurred to me that sometimes there is an economic advantage to hiring people to do some chores.  For example, if it takes me 2 hours to do my lawn plus the cost of equipment, I might be able to make more money working for those 2 hours than I would have to pay someone else to do it.  It kind of seems like a win-win situation, right?

But I don't think I'm ready for people just yet.  There just seems something fundamentally wrong about hiring somebody to do something that I'm completely capable of doing myself.  It just irks me when stay-at-home moms hire nannies to watch the children or maids to come clean their homes when the mom is at home.  I'm sure those mommies have some great personal explanation for why they need the help, but it just seems like a waste.

Of course, I may be completely alone in my opinions on this subject.  I am well aware that I was raised by a pair of Yankees who didn't grow up with "help" of their own.  Is that just a Southern thing?  I don't know, but I guess I'll be mowing the grass again this year.  (Yes, Me--stay-at-home moms should realize what a great workout mowing can be!) And maybe someday I'll be ready for more people in my life.  Until then, I guess we're just people who don't need people.