Welcome to my new series, where I take one for the team – making something quite boring a bit less boring. You can thank me later. Or now. Now is good too.
Anna... my mum once made sexy undies to sell 😭😭😭 She was the machinist and was employed by another woman who ordered about 400 pairs (this in the early 90s maybe late 80s). But then when the woman came to pick them up she only wanted to pay half and then the full amount once sold. Mum refused of course, she knew if she gave the box of undies right then she’d never see the woman or the $ again. Mum kept the 400 pairs of undies but was never able to sell them. I spent most of twenties and thirties I laughing about this story, but then when my mum had a stroke and I had to clean out her stuff from her garage and I found the box of undies I felt both sad and curious. Each pair was individually bagged. And I was like, how in the HELL did mum make 400 pairs of undies, where did that idea even come from?? Now I feel like I have an idea! Did the book really say that?!!!
I'm so saddened by this. Back in the day, we were all told to be less lazy and more enterprising. And your mum did just that, and was taken advantage of. So much time and care must have gone into her mahi. There is something particularly dehumanising about abusing someone's work and the good faith with which they do it.
Yeah, the sexy undies thing was really in the book. It was basically aimed at low income households trying to keep it together. It didn’t envisage a situation like your mum's, of getting ripped off, because it neither knew nor cared about people's actual lives.
So grateful Anna, for the time and effort you've put into this and sterling out out in a way that made it's really easy read. I've always thought some kind of income insurance was necessary for those who became ill or disabled from disease rather than injury given the discrepancy in service levels (and consequently quality of life) between those who get ACC assistance and those who don't. So, I'm a supporter for the NZ income insurance and the wider application of that - it'll never be perfect but getting something in place is important. Yet again, a great piece of writing, thank you.
Anna... my mum once made sexy undies to sell 😭😭😭 She was the machinist and was employed by another woman who ordered about 400 pairs (this in the early 90s maybe late 80s). But then when the woman came to pick them up she only wanted to pay half and then the full amount once sold. Mum refused of course, she knew if she gave the box of undies right then she’d never see the woman or the $ again. Mum kept the 400 pairs of undies but was never able to sell them. I spent most of twenties and thirties I laughing about this story, but then when my mum had a stroke and I had to clean out her stuff from her garage and I found the box of undies I felt both sad and curious. Each pair was individually bagged. And I was like, how in the HELL did mum make 400 pairs of undies, where did that idea even come from?? Now I feel like I have an idea! Did the book really say that?!!!
I'm so saddened by this. Back in the day, we were all told to be less lazy and more enterprising. And your mum did just that, and was taken advantage of. So much time and care must have gone into her mahi. There is something particularly dehumanising about abusing someone's work and the good faith with which they do it.
Yeah, the sexy undies thing was really in the book. It was basically aimed at low income households trying to keep it together. It didn’t envisage a situation like your mum's, of getting ripped off, because it neither knew nor cared about people's actual lives.
I just so love your writing and your analysis. I'm in the same field of work but can't do what you do - pithy, humorous, accessible.
Always enjoy meeting another poliy person! 🙂
That was brilliant! Thank you for breaking it down and into language I can understand andO will share!
Thanks for reading! Glad you got something out of it. 🙂
So grateful Anna, for the time and effort you've put into this and sterling out out in a way that made it's really easy read. I've always thought some kind of income insurance was necessary for those who became ill or disabled from disease rather than injury given the discrepancy in service levels (and consequently quality of life) between those who get ACC assistance and those who don't. So, I'm a supporter for the NZ income insurance and the wider application of that - it'll never be perfect but getting something in place is important. Yet again, a great piece of writing, thank you.
Thanks Sally! I feel much the same. There are many parts of it that aren't perfect - but it's not obvious how they could be done better either.
Hilarious! And so helpfully succinct :)
Glad you liked it! 🙂