center. In my house, it is the cabinet, where I keep our remembrance and the diplomas of our children. In the downstairs of my employer, it is the stove where Claire cooks every night. For Claire, it is her cello, upstairs in the room she works. In the place of Ruth, the center is a book, left open on a stand like the Oxford dictionary in the studio trailer of my handsome weekend employer. The Book of Ruth tells the story of our careers in America.
The teacher of Ruth was a picture bride, and then she worked domestic. On the first page, she typed HOW TO WORK FOR THE WHITE .
They do not like their own smell. Their waste. Their own used things .
Americans, they are very dirty. They used to be clean. The grandparents are clean. And the habits they lost are what they crave from us .
I have with me tonight this old book. Ruth gave it so I will make repairs. I walk to Palisades Park, sit on a bench, and lift out the frail book from T-shirts I have wrapped around. The spine is tearing from so many times being opened, and some of the pages glued in, the paste has dried and they are coming loose.
There is a carbon copy of a letter the teacher wrote to Mrs. Roosevelt and the reply, which came, eleven months later, from someone called Mary Anderson. The carbon paper is smudged from so many handling.
The teacher of Ruth trained Filipinas. Because we know English , Ruth said. And Japanese did not work anymore domestic .
A fellow student of Ruth learned English with the children of the family she lived-in. She left to Ruth that Visayan dictionary, with English words penciled in the margins. Into The Book of Ruth , women pasted copies of letters to Marcos and the unfamous presidents of Latin America. One housekeeper wrote a poem in Spanish for her granddaughter.
Underneath the torn leather of the spine, it looks like machine stitching.
The teacher of Ruth had a friend from the bus stop who wrote to the president.
Dear President,
I am a married woman and my Husband has been out of work for nearly eighteen month. I have been doing house work to keep my home together. I have one boy four and one half years old and it is very hard for me to leave my home and work at house work by the week. I get $12.00 per week. I work from seven in the morning till eight at night and if they have dinner parties I work much later and all I have off is from three o’clock one afternoon during the week and on Sunday afternoon. I wish you could do something to shorten the hours. I do not mind working to support my family but I sure do hate to be made a slave of. I hope Dear President you will not over look us poor things that has to work for the Wealthy. I sure hope my Husband will get work and I sure think if things keep up the way you have been doing every thing will come back wonderful. Dear President, we poor things want to thank you so much for all you have done.
Sincerely yours,
Grace Wicker
17 Mercer Avenue
Altadena, Calif.
PS I sure hope you can do something so I can be home with my little boy for I feel he needs me.
That smudged carbon copy the teacher put on the second page. Grace Wicker worked next door to where she worked. And she is a white , the teacher told Ruth. That is how they even treat their own .
I take out a needle and three spools of thread. I try to match the faded spine and thread the needle. I sew cross-stitches very tight. After I sew, I will seal the holes with Crazy Glue.
Everyone who stayed at the place of Ruth signed her name. It is also a how-to book. How to set a table, with four forks and four spoons, tricks about pie crust, how to fan a napkin so it stands.
Always Do Extra , someone named Dora wrote in 1966. Anything a little nice without spending their money. Here where I am they have orange trees. So I make an orange and lime salad . She drew a picture of the way Valencia trees hold new oranges, along with some from the year before and white blossoms, at the same time. Always pick the old , she advised. Sweeter
The teacher of Ruth was a picture bride, and then she worked domestic. On the first page, she typed HOW TO WORK FOR THE WHITE .
They do not like their own smell. Their waste. Their own used things .
Americans, they are very dirty. They used to be clean. The grandparents are clean. And the habits they lost are what they crave from us .
I have with me tonight this old book. Ruth gave it so I will make repairs. I walk to Palisades Park, sit on a bench, and lift out the frail book from T-shirts I have wrapped around. The spine is tearing from so many times being opened, and some of the pages glued in, the paste has dried and they are coming loose.
There is a carbon copy of a letter the teacher wrote to Mrs. Roosevelt and the reply, which came, eleven months later, from someone called Mary Anderson. The carbon paper is smudged from so many handling.
The teacher of Ruth trained Filipinas. Because we know English , Ruth said. And Japanese did not work anymore domestic .
A fellow student of Ruth learned English with the children of the family she lived-in. She left to Ruth that Visayan dictionary, with English words penciled in the margins. Into The Book of Ruth , women pasted copies of letters to Marcos and the unfamous presidents of Latin America. One housekeeper wrote a poem in Spanish for her granddaughter.
Underneath the torn leather of the spine, it looks like machine stitching.
The teacher of Ruth had a friend from the bus stop who wrote to the president.
Dear President,
I am a married woman and my Husband has been out of work for nearly eighteen month. I have been doing house work to keep my home together. I have one boy four and one half years old and it is very hard for me to leave my home and work at house work by the week. I get $12.00 per week. I work from seven in the morning till eight at night and if they have dinner parties I work much later and all I have off is from three o’clock one afternoon during the week and on Sunday afternoon. I wish you could do something to shorten the hours. I do not mind working to support my family but I sure do hate to be made a slave of. I hope Dear President you will not over look us poor things that has to work for the Wealthy. I sure hope my Husband will get work and I sure think if things keep up the way you have been doing every thing will come back wonderful. Dear President, we poor things want to thank you so much for all you have done.
Sincerely yours,
Grace Wicker
17 Mercer Avenue
Altadena, Calif.
PS I sure hope you can do something so I can be home with my little boy for I feel he needs me.
That smudged carbon copy the teacher put on the second page. Grace Wicker worked next door to where she worked. And she is a white , the teacher told Ruth. That is how they even treat their own .
I take out a needle and three spools of thread. I try to match the faded spine and thread the needle. I sew cross-stitches very tight. After I sew, I will seal the holes with Crazy Glue.
Everyone who stayed at the place of Ruth signed her name. It is also a how-to book. How to set a table, with four forks and four spoons, tricks about pie crust, how to fan a napkin so it stands.
Always Do Extra , someone named Dora wrote in 1966. Anything a little nice without spending their money. Here where I am they have orange trees. So I make an orange and lime salad . She drew a picture of the way Valencia trees hold new oranges, along with some from the year before and white blossoms, at the same time. Always pick the old , she advised. Sweeter
Similar Books
