Every time I see her, she asks after Johnie\u2019s wife because it was Johnie\u2019s wife who introduced me to her and paid her visits, too, which she hasn\u2019t done for a long time, now.
\nJohnie\u2019s wife is very busy with a university course, I have often explained this to Aunt Maisie. How does she cope with her housework, Aunt Maisie wonders. If she\u2019s out all day, who does the housework? I venture that maybe there isn\u2019t a lot. There are the tops in the kitchen, Aunt Maisie says. They\u2019re quickly done, I answer. There\u2019s the bathroom, Aunt Maisie remarks, raising her right forefinger. I can\u2019t deny it. Fortunately I am in a position to inform her that Johnie\u2019s house is no less tidy than ours. And I\u2019m at home all day ! I also remembered what Johnie\u2019s wife told me about her husband. His job is of such a nature that he is at home not infrequently during the day. He has the garden to keep him busy, but when that\u2019s done … he sometimes doesn\u2019t know, I understand, how to occupy himself. Wouldn\u2019t it be a good idea for Johnie to make himself useful … in the house, for example ?
\nAunt Maisie laughs and doesn\u2019t think much to this suggestion. He wouldn\u2019t like that, would he, she says. She wonders, does Johnie\u2019s wife still work for the charity she is a member of ? She probably doesn\u2019t have much time for that, now, Aunt Maisie reckons, showing disapproval. What does she have to go to university for, anyway, she asks, having a family and all the relevant commitments. I can remember Aldous asking the same question.<\/p>\n
I change the subject because I have no more information to give her and inquire about her young gentleman-friend who had been ill for quite a while. He\u2019s alright, I hear, back to normal and back to work. He works for the Sultan of Z., a very generous man, Aunt Maisie says full of admiration, who has bought an estate nearby and employs quite a few people. Her young friend had been ill for six months and not only didn\u2019t lose his job, but had his full pay on top. And now he\u2019s gone back. What a wonderful man, the Sultan! And look what he\u2019s done for the village. All the money he\u2019s given to the school, and the swimming pool he\u2019s had built. Quite exemplary. Not like some local farmers. When people can\u2019t work for them anymore, they\u2019re sent away, they\u2019re not allowed to stay on the land. They\u2019ll be lucky, if they find a council-house or flat.<\/p>\n
Aunt Maisie is indignant. Her husband was a farm labourer. They were lucky and found a council-house. As for the Sultan, he comes from a poor tribe, she informs me, until he stumbled on all these oil wells. Now, he\u2019s rich. He has an agent in town over here whom he went to see recently, just for the day. Fancy doing such a journey and staying for one day! Aunt Maisie fails to comprehend.<\/p>\n
I have to think of other foreigners, from the Far East, who have been good to this country by building a large industrial plant just where unemployment is at its worst. Nothing but praise for them. And how welcome their money! The local workforce is determined to make the venture a success. The incentive is there. Aunt Maisie fully agrees. People should do honest work instead of striking. Too much of that nowadays. The teachers have certainly got what they wanted. They should be happy with their pay. Until they want more, Aunt Maisie says, human beings are greedy.<\/p>\n
We could go on talking for a long time, but I must think of my commitments as a housewife and mother. She understands that. I tell her that I \u2018love her and leave her\u2019. She smiles, saying, it\u2019s lovely to see you, it really is! I promise to see her next week, get onto my bicycle and she waves after me.<\/p>\n
My elder daughter\u2019s boyfriend lives in the same street as Aunt Maisie. He didn\u2019t know about our links with her and trying to explain to my daughter where his house is, he said, it\u2019s \u2018where the old phobies live\u2019.
\nAunt Maisie had her own back, unknowingly, it is true : When I told her that my daughter\u2019s boyfriend lived in her street, \u2018just opposite the police station\u2019, she observed that \u2018she should look higher than that\u2019 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every time I see her, she asks after Johnie\u2019s wife because it was Johnie\u2019s wife who introduced me to her and paid her visits, too, which she hasn\u2019t done for a long time, now. Johnie\u2019s wife is very busy with a university course, I have often explained this to Aunt Maisie. How does she cope […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reading-aloud-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/Readingaloud2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}