How to become a maid at age 70

Reflections of a young person on the cycle of life

- By EDRIAN DIZON TAMETA, 17

To become a maid at age 70, you must start as a teen—but not too young to get your employer in trouble.

Your name, age, and family are only constructs on paper—rewrite them if you must. Always defer to your masters and superiors, and never bite the hand that feeds you.

Follow these steps, and you will likely land a job in Marikina, a humble old town east of Manila, a fertile ground for the 1970s job market. Just avoid making the fatal mistake of suddenly leaving the roof you live under to search for greener pastures. You will certainly be shut out of the opportunity to escape a life lived paycheck to paycheck.

You will wake up each day before dawn in a cramped closet. Make sure to quickly prepare breakfast, as your master has business to attend to. His children have classes at a big-league school, and his wife has friends and associates to meet. Under your master’s roof, you are family—but also just one of many names on a tucked-away payroll. Make sure your service comes with the heart of a saint and the commitment of a monk. Forget everything you learned about the laws of the nation—their word is law, nothing more, nothing less.

You could be the perfect servant, the most selfless and obedient person there is. However, by your late 20s, your so-called family may let you go. To your masters, you will be just a commodity to be bought and disposed of once things go south, not a blood-relative worthy of a second thought. In the hustle and bustle of the city’s streets, finding your next step will not be child’s play. It will be an endless cycle of rejection and disappointment.