Anonymous Advice

My husband and I are on a huge local parenting listserv––thousands of subscribers, thousands of pages and multiple groups and sub-groups, etc.––and we both get a daily dispatch from the Advice section. Mostly it’s people asking for pediatrician referrals or the name of a good roofing guy, but occasionally someone writes in anonymously because what they need advice on is sensitive.

Early on in the days of this most recent maternity leave, I was super bored, so I read through all the old anonymous posts, and boy was it entertaining. There were a lot of repeat issues (fertility problems, requests for therapist recs, nannies being assholes) but some really out there ones. This is probably my favorite:

Hi – I have a situation with my nanny that I can’t wrap my head around. She is claiming a spell was put on her a long time ago and it is causing her to not sleep, get sick & be all around miserable feeling. However, she still comes to work and is doing a good job, always has & my daughters adore her. She is in the midst of trying to get help through spiritual guidance. To date I have not worried a second about my children. My perspective is there is some mind over matter going on and maybe some mental issues? However, this is a perspective that doesn’t believe in spirits & black magic. Has anyone been through this? How understanding as a employer should I be? I wouldn’t get fired for seeing a therapist, but after what happened on the UWS I am a bit nervous. Any advice would be much appreciated. My nanny is from Trinidad. Thank you!

Honestly, though, the best part might have been how half the responses were like “These beliefs are part of indigenous Caribbean cultures!” and the other half were like, “I think it’s offensive to assume Caribbean people are unsophisticated and still believe in witchcraft!”

This entry was posted on February 6, 2019 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Conspiracy Theories, It Could Be Worse.... You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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