# I pit the want ads in my neighbourhood **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 7, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116 "2004-10-07T23:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/1 "2004-10-07T23:38:44Z")
Every time I walk past a telephone pole, there are all sorts of flyers stapled or tacked up. Some for lost pets, some for dog walkers, some for garbage removal services… and some for caretakers. The flyers usually mention something along the lines of “qualified lady with 2-3 years of experience, handles children well, can work all hours”… And, as a coda, the lady speaks English well because she is–without fail–Filippino. The ad _always_ includes this somewhere. I walked past two of these today, then passed by an ad for a Portugese cleaning lady–with no other references, as if being Portugese automatically qualified her to be a cleaning lady! It doesn’t damn well matter whether you’re Filippino, Portugese, white, black, or blue–it matters whether you can tidy a house or take care of children. The end. This pisses me off to no end. :mad: ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/2 "2004-10-08T00:28:05Z")
I don’t know about Filippino women, but Portuguese women have a reputation for being very clean and extraordinarily good housekeepers. Being half Portuguese and having settled randomly in a neighborhood with lots of Portuguese immigrants living in it, I can assure you that the stereotype is that we are a very hardworking people. Stereotypes run rampant with any ethnicity. Portuguese people have to deal with people assuming they live on soup and drink a lot of moonshine they make in a bathtub. I don’t see why people shouldn’t capitalize on positive sterotypes when they are affected by negative ones as well. Especially for immigrants who aren’t trained for much else. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/3 "2004-10-08T00:36:50Z")
I don’t think people should push any stereotypes, positive or negative. They’re false, and in the long run they can harmful. And if immigrants aren’t being trained for much else than cleaning houses, then there should services available that\* do\* train them for non-menial jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/4 "2004-10-08T00:49:10Z")
But whether there should or shouldn’t be training, there isn’t. Immigrants have to take whatever kinds of jobs they can get. In this case, women do housecleaning, and men typically do unskilled labor. It’s the way things are expected to be, at least in Portuguese familes. My grandfather worked as a smelter (which killed him, BTW), my mom is an administrative assistant, and I am an engineer. Immigrants typically come to America to give their children a better chance at life. They do the jobs nobody wants so that their kids can get a job that isn’t backbreaking and menial. As far as pushing stereotypes go, in theory, I agree with you. But what else does somebody with little command of the English language or American society have to recommend them for a job cleaning houses? One small thing about Portuguese culture - we (generic we, not me in particular. I’m only a half-breed, you see 😃 ) believe stereotypes are true, for better or (usually) worse. Not those of us who have been Americanized, but I’ll tell you that I have never met a group of people _as a whole_ more racist than the Portuguese. Not necessarily in the big, violent ways, though. More in the tightening-grip-on-purse, keeping-an-eye-on-potential-shoplifter kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/5 "2004-10-08T00:51:07Z")
I know it’s expected to be that way. It doesn’t make it right, though. ☹ _hugs to you_ ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/6 "2004-10-08T00:59:29Z")
Thanks. I agree. It’s just a hard situation all around. _hugs back_ ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/7 "2004-10-08T13:34:03Z")
These people who staple or tape or nail “YARD SALE” signs all over the goddam neighborhood and NEVER TAKE THEM DOWN. Half of them don’t have dates on them; there’s been a sign on one phone pole saying, “Yard sale this Saturday!” for three months now. You put it up? _You take it down_. If I had a car and a lot more time, I’d rip 'em down and shove them in the mailboxes of the offenders (since their addresses are on them, they’d be easy to find!). ---
**Author:** ![jujuju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@jujuju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jujuju)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/8 "2004-10-08T15:58:58Z")
where are you? i wish i ever saw a babysitter willing to work _any_ hours. i have to be at work at 5:30 am. can’t pay anyone around here to help. my community is great about the yard sale signs. they don’t go up before thurs and they don’t stay longer than monday. or the law shows up. for real. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/9 "2004-10-08T16:05:48Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > These people who staple or tape or nail “YARD SALE” signs all over the goddam neighborhood and NEVER TAKE THEM DOWN. Half of them don’t have dates on them; there’s been a sign on one phone pole saying, “Yard sale this Saturday!” for three months now. > > You put it up? _You take it down_. If I had a car and a lot more time, I’d rip 'em down and shove them in the mailboxes of the offenders (since their addresses are on them, they’d be easy to find!). Show up on Saturday and stand in their front yard. When they ask what you’re doing there, tell them that they advertised a yard sale on Saturday in flyers still up on poles, and you expect them to have a yard sale, by damn, or you’ll send their name in to the Attorney General for false advertising! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/10 "2004-10-08T16:36:18Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > And if immigrants aren’t being trained for much else than cleaning houses, then there should services available that\* do\* train them for non-menial jobs. Then you’d hear complaints that all the immigrants are taking “their” jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-want-ads-in-my-neighbourhood/268116/11 "2004-10-08T16:40:38Z")
_Then_? You already do. And usually by people that’re always on welfare. At least in my experience.