Thursday, June 01, 2006
6/01/2006 04:53:00 PM

Swallowing a Spider (well, nearly!)

posted by Francis Ho

I’m one of those people who religiously drank 2 or more liters of water everyday. And every morning my maid would ensure that my 2 water bottles (one in the office and one left in the car) are filled up for me to bring along before I leave the house.

So I was really shocked to discover that there was a life spider in my water bottle and which I nearly gulped down!

Anyway a little background to this story …

We’d been having some problems with our maid lately as for the longest time we had been blaming KH2o, our teenage daughter about the excessive phone bills and which she vehemently denied. So we requested for itemized billings and my wife went through them and to our horrors, our maid has been the one making these calls to the tune in excess of over RM250 to RM350 a month! And this was ever since we moved to the new house nearly a year ago. We were mad but there was nothing much to do but reproach her. If we deduct it from her salary, she’ll have precious little left. She has been until this incident a most reliable and honest person. But she denied making all those calls but they were clearly itemized with the numbers (to Indonesia), duration and time (when we were not at home) of calls. So we’d been having a very unwilling and sour-faced helper in the house for the past few weeks.

Is it a poisonous spider? And did my maid put the spider in the bottle?

My wife didn't think so and I would also like to think otherwise. I know that it's bad to suspect or think bad of someone without any evidence and the spider could have easily gotten into the water bottle when it was left out to dry in the sun.

What do you think?

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  At Thursday, 01 June, 2006 Blogger Wuching said:

i've heard stories of indonesian maids doing terrible things to get back at their employers but i'm not too sure if they were true but there is always that suspicion there so maybe u should just watch her closely for the time being to see if she slips up in the future. the phone bills don't lie so she must be lying, just tell her straight that if she does it again..u have to find someone new. but make sure u don't eat her cooking! just be careful unker!

  At Thursday, 01 June, 2006 Blogger Pandabonium said:

Once a trust is broken, it is hard to trust that person in the future. That she would lie about the calls is not surprising - most accused people will do so. (remember Clinton saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman"?).

As for the spider... I think if the bottles are left out to dry a spider might find it an interesting "cave" to explore.

If you keep the maid in your employ you will need to do two things. 1) Keep and eye on the phone bill and anything else which she could steal; and 2) try not to jump to conclusions.

Try to keep a level head and be objective. Tough to do right after being "bitten" in the wallet.

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

Go easy, unker!

No one in the right mind and given the opportunity should ever have to take up a dead-end job such as maid. Not only they have to put up with the whim and fancy from the various bosess of the family unit, big and small, more often than not they work round the clock, seven days a week. It's more than humanly degrading, it is exploitation. I'm not in anyway suggesting this is the case but in most cases they are.

I would say give her the phone allowance since she is away from home and miss her family.

Jungleman

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Blogger iml said:

Innocent until proven guilty. Then again be more alert.

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

If you give the maid access to the phone, she will be gone soon enough... most likely with some of your assets...

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Blogger Robin CHAN said:

hmmm.. with that suspicion in your mind.. it is hard to see how the maid can remain under the same roof.

I think it would only be reasonable to change the maid.

Old Chinese saying.. you can be wary for thief from the outside but not from inside of the house.

My mum's ex maid, help herself to all her stuff without even getting out of the house.. she called her friend to stand outside our gate and passed everything through the gate. Luckily my neighbour saw her.

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Blogger Robin CHAN said:

But with a spider, this size.. surely she should be able to see it..

Meaning.. she is not careful and didn't even bother to check.,, otherwise, she is trying to make a spider flavoured drink for u to turn to spiderman?

Welcome to the Hall of Justice!

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Blogger Francis Ho said:

Thanks for all your comments.

The phone is now locked up when we're out of the house ... and I now examine anything I put into my mouth very very carefully! ;)

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

Spittle and weed killer are not visible readily! So watch out.....

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Blogger Francis Ho said:

ah beng - that's oh so reassuring to know! *sigh*

do i need to check under the car or bonnet before i turn on the ignition key? ;)

  At Friday, 02 June, 2006 Blogger YD said:

We don't have a maid at home, so don't really know how are the common behaviour of the maids.

However, a friend of mine set up a maid training centre called 321-connect. It's quite a new idea in Malaysia, but she hopes by starting this effort, in the future the culture of having qualified maids will be encouraged in Malaysia.

Do hope that things will get better for you.

  At Saturday, 03 June, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

I have had many maids. One lasted 6 years. One lasted 2 years. Some lasted 4 months, More lasted less than 1 month. And i have paid many many 'tuition money' to try and understand them.

NEVER trust them 100%. They will lie so convincingly until you yourself question the very obvious evidence. This phone problem is normal. My maids are told from Day 1. Any calls to Indo 'Kamu Bayar' ok?

Many asked me if i am not afraid of this 'ubat ubat', in the case they want revenge. If i say no also i am lying. But i leave it to fate. Just keep an eye on what ever i eat and drink in the house, keep anything of value under lock and key and treat them very fairly.

The rest i leave to the big kahuna in the sky.

  At Saturday, 03 June, 2006 Blogger Francis Ho said:

adrian - thanks for sharing your experience and the advice. appreciated.


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