Dear South Asians, We Need to Talk About ‘the Help’
Even the most fervent social justice warriors are treating domestic help and gig workers like s***. Something has to change.
Last week, Dr. Varuna Srinivasan and her family were enjoying a meal at the palatial, oceanside Samudra resort in Chennai. Then, like a scene straight out of The White Lotus, she watched a middle-aged Indian woman start screaming at a 20-year-old waitress who had brought their family a cheese pizza.
“Do you know what a margherita pizza is!” the woman screeched. “A margherita pizza has basil! And tomatoes! And cheese!” Shaking, the girl cowered, dropped the plate, and bolted to the kitchen. Srinivasan glared at the woman, whose children were hooting and hollering. “She acted like she owned the place,” Srinivasan told The Juggernaut. “You know what that is? That’s an Indian Karen.”