Total First World (in a third world) Problem

[ste_noni]

We have a gardener who maintains our lawn each week.  The protestant-work-ethic in me objects to this, but it's $10 a week.  When I hired them, they told me "$40 a month - well, actually $10 a week".  

Now, instead of leaving me a little receipt at the end of each month, he shows up standing in my driveway waiting for me to leave and then asks me for the money.  I don't usually have much cash on me and when I'm leaving the house in the moring, I'm always carrying breakfast, my bag, Ellie's bag, and sometimes Ellie.  Even though it's so irritating, mostly I think it's just creepy to step out of my garage and have this guy just standing there watching my house.

Oh, and for a while, I was paying him $40 because he said he would come once a month, but then it started to occur to me that he was coming sooner.  So I asked him and he said, "Oh, I come every three weeks."  I guess he had just been assuming that my extra $10 was a tip or something.

This is what frustrates me about living in another culture with another language.  He seems so weird to me - just showing up, every three weeks - but for all I know, he thinks I'm totally nuts for being frustrated with him.

Comments

[septembergrrl.livejournal.com]

Does he work for someone, or is it just him? Because if he works for someone, you could call them and say you need an invoice for your records and ask that you be billed monthly. Actually, you could do that to him, too, but it would be a hard conversation to get into on your way out of the house -- it seems like it would go better over the phone, but that might just be my hang-up.

[twilightsm.livejournal.com]

gotta love those strange culture shocks...
It is pretty common behavior from what I know...(at least in Mexicans/Cubans in Florida)

[ste-noni.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it probably is common. One of my friends had a boyfriend who ran a landscaping business (he was Mexican) and he collected his bills the same way.