…only illegals will wash windows–and what’s a few broken laws if you get clean windows out of it?

E-mail:

“Dear Mr Lowry,

Although I do not have hard data to refute your argument in your essay ‘Let

them eat diversity,’ I do have some anecdotal observations. I live in

Memphis. I had an American cleaning lady for a while. For $60, she would

sort of clean my house, but would not wash windows (yes, I know that is a

cliche), do laundry, iron, or clean the inside of my refrigerator (or on

top of it). After a while, I realized I could do a lousy job of cleaning my

house myself for free and I fired her.

Then I found Dacia, my illegal Mexican cleaning lady. When she came for her

interview (if that is what one calls the process of hiring a cleaning

lady), she asked, ‘Do you want me to use rags or newspaper to clean the

windows?’ When I recovered from my shock and asked, ‘You wash windows?’,

she answered, in a puzzled voice, ‘Isn’t that part of cleaning a house?’

I pay Dacia the same amount I paid my American cleaning lady, but she

scrubs the house from floor to ceiling and washes my clothes and my windows

and cleans the refrigerator. She has cleaned the basement and has swept the

porch. I employ her not because she is cheaper than an American but because

she does a better job.”