# I have been stolen from **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 5, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540 "2003-11-05T13:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/1 "2003-11-05T13:09:48Z")
This morning, well before 7:00 am, I got up and put some change into my change dish. It was just 2 nickels and a dime. I have two of those M&M’s metal Valentine’s tins. I keep Quarters in one and Nickels in the other. The Quarter dish was full to the brim. This morning, when I checked to see which tin had the quarters, I noticed it was 2/3’s empty. That was 20$ in change. I am going to check with my brother and my mom, but the ods of them taking it are rather slim. My brother hardly needs a huge pile of quarters. He’s got his own. And he’s not hrting for money, since he has a nice allowance. My mom doesn’t need to steal from me to get 20 bucks. So that leaves the maid service. Last friday, for the first time, one of them cleaned up my (sadly limited) deskspace. I have a feeling they are about to refund us the money. Its not the first time theyve had utter idiots cleaning out house. There was one damn fool girl who, though clumsy enbough that she repeatedly broke objects in our house, was given a large backpack vaccuum to wield. We told the service never to send her here again after she crushed dad’s model ship. I’d like to say that I am furiously angry, but I’m not. I don’t feel shicked or betrayed or even miffed. I just feel sort of sad. You’d think you could trust people. The only thing I ever satole in my life was a superman doll from a day-care center when I was 6 or 7. A mistake, sure, but hardly on the order of taking 20 bucks from someone’s home. PS, sorry for that other anti-pitting thread. I know it wasn’t proper, but this place felt so darn depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/2 "2003-11-05T13:34:33Z")
I _thought_ those M&Ms tasted funny… ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/3 "2003-11-05T13:49:10Z")
Dude. Tell the cleaning lady not to clean your room anymore. That really sucks. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/4 "2003-11-05T14:13:36Z")
You got change for a dollar? ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/5 "2003-11-06T06:39:28Z")
I think that cleaning your room gives me every right to steal your silver change, pal! God, people suck. Stealing money from a kid’s room… that anything like stealing candy from a baby? And who the frick gives their BABY candy?? ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/6 "2003-11-06T07:03:24Z")
Yes, it totally sucks and never should have happened. There is no justification for stealing. However, your maids are getting paid jack shit. Maybe one of them felt desperate and did something stupid because of it. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/7 "2003-11-06T15:23:28Z")
Well, I’m hardly a kid anymore; I’m in college, and while making minimum age, I work 30 hours a week - all I can squeeze in - while doing an unpaid internship and writing a book I hopefully will sell on the D20 market. So I can’t claim any child-sympathy. Sorry. Anyway, I do know they don’t get paid much. Its true, it sucks. But neither do I. I saved a hell of a lot of money, for me, out of spare change and willpower. Hell, I might have even given her a $20 if she really needed it. But stealing it out of my room while you’re being paid decent money to clean it is low. Lets see: we pay 100$ to clean our house. Its takes about an hour. Gas to get here: 2$ (actually less, but it makes things easier) Equipment: God knows. They reuse it, of course, so its spread cost. Management: Not my business. I admit its a guess, but they could be paying the maids twice what I get and make a strong profit. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/8 "2003-11-06T16:20:49Z")
**Lets see: we pay 100$ to clean our house. Its takes about an hour … I admit its a guess, but they could be paying the maids twice what I get and make a strong profit.** 10 bucks an hour! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Those maids are probably getting paid $6 an hour, $7, tops. ---
**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/9 "2003-11-07T05:50:15Z")
I cleaned houses as my first job. It sucked GOAT BUTT! Royal! People are filthy and I never understood why they couldn’t do it themselves (UNLESS, it was an old couple who couldn’t handle the physicality of it). My favorite thing was when they expected us to wash the dishes too. _Come on_! OK, you’re too lazy to clean the living room but the dishes??? O…K… It was a horrid, nasty job and I don’t regret leaving it. Had to use my own car, the ladies I worked with made me do more of the work usually, and I got paid shit. Minimum wage then was $4.25 and we didn’t get compensation for gas. Then again, it’s a two-way street. Maids can be evil and steal, yes, I know. I never did, I am not that kind of person. Maids can be the most unpleasant of bitches, I know that, as well. I never was until I got home from a long, hard day. I stayed on for three months and hated every bleepin’ second of it! Not a job I’d recommend… ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/10 "2003-11-07T08:52:32Z")
I’m not defending a thieving maid, but… To someone who has very little, and is barely making a living wage, what does it say when you leave substantial amounts of money almost spilling over a tin? It says, “I have so much money, I don’t even have to pay attention to $30 or $40 - I can afford to leave it lying around.” Her conclusion? “If he’s got so much money that he can be so careless with it, he won’t miss some of it.” Do yourself and your maids a favor - when they’re scheduled to clean your house, put your cash in a drawer somewhere, so it isn’t sitting out there saying, “Look at me!” ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/11 "2003-11-07T09:00:29Z")
If it only takes an hour, why not divy up the chores among your roomies and do the job yourselves? ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/12 "2003-11-07T12:04:20Z")
My wife runs her own housekeeping business. She charges $25 an hour. If you pay $100, I think she’ll take you on as a client! And she doesn’t do dishes, or pick up after people. If they leave things around, she just vacuums around it. She makes that clear when she starts a client. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/13 "2003-11-07T12:19:04Z")
I want a maid. _sob_ ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/14 "2003-11-07T12:27:28Z")
[hijack] **Odinoneeye,** this question may sound snide, but I mean it in the most honest way: Why won’t your wife pick up after people? Isn’t that what a maid _does?_ And why not dishes? I mean, if I were ever wealthy enough to afford a maid (which would probably never happen anyway, b/c I’d be so anxious not to offend her that I’d clean before she got there, which would kind of make the whole idea pointless) I’d expect her to clean the house…including picking up after me and doing the dishes, if that was what needed to be done. Does this violate some kind of rule? I’m genuinely curious! [/hijack] As for the OP…I can’t believe no one’s commented on the irony of the **Smiling Bandit** mentioning the fact that he’s been robbed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/15 "2003-11-07T12:50:26Z")
> [@](#): > > If it only takes an hour, why not divy up the chores among your roomies and do the job yourselves? My parents house; they’re too busy and they don’t ask me to do it. But I think they want more than someone to run the sweeper. The maids do a lot and they work _fast_. But then again, I don’t have the time either, anymore. I leave long before 7:00 am (hopefully :smack:) and often don’t get back until 6:00 pm. I moved back in for my last semester at the uni. But regardless, Its not like I have a bunch of money. I get paid a few cents above minimum wage, but not much. > [@](#): > > People are filthy and I never understood why they couldn’t do it themselves (UNLESS, it was an old couple who couldn’t handle the physicality of it). My favorite thing was when they expected us to wash the dishes too. Come on! OK, you’re too lazy to clean the living room but the dishes??? O…K… I pick up after myself and we do our own dishes. Honestly, the only one who really gets his room dirty is my brother, who is a normal teenager. In other words, he lives in a pigsty. I, sadly enough, have too much stuff (it seems to have expanded somehow when I went to college), with books everywhere, which means I hardly have any room to put anything anymore. > [@](#): > > Do yourself and your maids a favor - when they’re scheduled to clean your house, put your cash in a drawer somewhere, so it isn’t sitting out there saying, “Look at me!” It was all in covered tins on my dresser. I thought that should be good enough. She obviously opened them to check. > [@](#): > > As for the OP…I can’t believe no one’s commented on the irony of the Smiling Bandit mentioning the fact that he’s been robbed. I admit I had not noticed the irony. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/16 "2003-11-07T13:46:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smiling bandit \* > **It was all in covered tins on my dresser. I thought that should be good enough. She obviously opened them to check.** Look on the bright side - this probably means that she isn’t just dusting _around_ things, but is almost certainly picking them up, in order to do a good job. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/17 "2003-11-07T20:58:25Z")
So did your parents report that you had 20 bucks missing, **bandit**? If not, they should. What if the stealing maid goes into another house and, having gotten away with stealing from you, she gets a little more confident and goes for, say, someone’s heirloom earrings that belonged to their great-grandmother? Report it. Whoever did this needs to be canned. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/18 "2003-11-07T21:46:14Z")
I loved my old cleaning lady so much. She used to pick up change she found lying about and put it into a jar for me. She once found a diamond earring on the floor and made sure she put it where I could find it with a note. She was honest as the day was long and cleaned like a motherfucker. I’m still trying to get her to move to NC. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/19 "2003-11-08T00:59:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Audrey Levins \* > \*\*[hijack] > > Odinoneeye, this question may sound snide, but I mean it in the most honest way: > > Why won’t your wife pick up after people? Isn’t that what a maid _does?_ And why not dishes? > I mean, if I were ever wealthy enough to afford a maid (which would probably never happen anyway, b/c I’d be so anxious not to offend her that I’d clean before she got there, which would kind of make the whole idea pointless) I’d expect her to clean the house…including picking up after me and doing the dishes, if that was what needed to be done. Does this violate some kind of rule? > > I’m genuinely curious! > > [/hijack] > > As for the OP…I can’t believe no one’s commented on the irony of the Smiling Bandit mentioning the fact that he’s been robbed. 😉 \*\* I’ll take a gander at this one **Audrey**. My mom’s been cleaning professionally for more than five years, and I’ve done it too. I doubt **Odin** meant that his wife is a _live-in_ house keeper who runs around folding clothes in her little black uniform, but prolly does what my mom does: has clients and goes to their house once week/every two weeks. She doesn’t “pick up” after people either. She’s there to scrub the toilet, clean the floors by hand, dust, etc. She’s there to **clean** , not tidy things or organize. Although she does wash leftover breakfast dishes if they’re there. And she’ll striaighten up shoes near the front door, but when the 15 year old leaves his clothes on the floor, they go on the bed. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540/20 "2003-11-08T06:38:15Z")
I’ve worked as a maid, **Audrey** , and I would have been yelled at, maybe dismissed, if I’d picked stuff up\*. I once did get yelled at, for lining up the stuff on the bathroom vanity after I’d wiped off the counter. And for throwing away a candy wrapper that was in the shower stall. 😕 (No, it didn’t have a contest entry on it or anything; I checked.) If you’re talking about the kind of clients who want a maid to be invisible, there’s no point in picking stuff up if you don’t know where it’s supposed to go. And they’d have to (gasp) _speak_ to you to tell you where it’s supposed to go. So you just let it lay. (No offense, **bandit** ; I’m not including you in the snob category.) That said, however, there is **no** excuse for stealing. My first day at Merry Maids, a coworker told me, “Don’t ever make any comments about the furnishings or their stuff. Not even a compliment. Because if you say, 'What a beautiful jade paperweight!” and then that beautiful jade paperweight disappears, they’ll go right to you.’ She also said, “Some of them will leave money around to see if you’ll take it. **Don’t even think about it**.” Whether or not it’s fair that they make so much and you make minimum or less, they still don’t owe you more than you get paid. \*At Merry Maids, that is. Now, with my private clients (the widower, the woman with four kids, the disabled woman and the computer programmer or whatever he was), they hired me to organize as well as clean. But in that case, they would either tell me what had to go where, or I would tell them, “I sorted the Legos, the Barbie accessories, and the puzzle pieces and put them all in different boxes. That okay?” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-been-stolen-from/211540.md?page=2)