Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

I have been reading The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, by Alexander McCall Smith. These are delightful, funny, heartwarming books about a woman who becomes the first female detective in Botswana, Africa. I had read the first book in the series before going to Uganda and have read the second one (Tears of the Giraffe) since returning. There are two interesting quotes from the second book I want to share with you. The first is a perspective on employment and social justice I hadn't heard before:
It was inconsiderate not to have a gardener if, like Dr. Ranta, you were in a well-paid white-collar job. It was a social duty to employ domestic staff, who were readily available and desperate for work. Wages were low - unconscionably so, thought Mma Ramotswe - but at least the system created jobs. If everybody with a job had a maid, then that was food going into the mouths of the maids and their children. If everybody did their own housework and tended their own gardens, then what were the people who were maids and gardeners to do?
By not cultivating his garden, Dr. Ranta showed himself to be selfish, which did not surprise Mma Ramotswe at all.
The second is a statement about the world's view of Africa that I think is very accurate:
Sometimes she thought that people overseas had no room in their heart for Africa, because nobody had ever told them that African people were just the same as they were.
Just something to consider today.

1 comment:

  1. So now can I get a housekeeper? Actually that's a very interesting perspective. Esp. in these tough times, hiring someone who is out of work is an act of compassion. I was going to ask where your cool background was today (Thurs), but it just popped up :-)
    It's asking me to choose a profile, and I have no idea what any of those mean, so I'll just click something.

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