The Silent Injustice: How We Treat Those Who Serve Us

I was scrolling through X when I came across a post that stopped me in my tracks.

Someone shared their experience at Chicken Republic. They had been sitting near a family, a couple with their children, happily enjoying their meal. With them was a young girl, likely their house help, carrying their baby.

The parents bought ice cream for their children, laughing as they handed them the sweet treat. But the girl, the one holding their baby, received nothing. No acknowledgement, no consideration, nothing.

The person who shared the story wanted so badly to buy her ice cream, to make her feel seen, to let her know that someone noticed her. But hesitation crept in. Would it cause trouble? Would the family be offended?

And yet, the real question remained: Why should kindness ever feel like trouble?

The Silent Helpers

House helps live in the background of our lives. They cook, they clean, they raise children who are not theirs. And yet, society often treats them as though they deserve less, less kindness, less respect, less dignity.

But not every home is this way.

I heard another story, one that stayed with me.

A man made sure his house help went to the same school as his children. People questioned his decision. Why should she get the same education? Why treat her as an equal? But his reasoning was simple, "If she learns the same thing, she will teach them from the same source."

This wasn’t just a practical choice, it was a choice of dignity. Since the house help was older, she would naturally influence the younger children. She would help them with assignments, correct their mistakes, shape their thinking. If she was learning in the same environment, the impact would be positive, ensuring that what she passed on was valuable and informed.

And in their home, the difference was clear. If you visited, you wouldn’t even know she was a house help. She was treated as the first child of the family, embraced fully, loved completely.

The Heart of the Matter

House helps are not invisible. They are not just workers, they are someone’s child.

A mother somewhere carried that child, prayed for them, dreamed of a bright future for them. Life may have led them to a path of service, but that doesn’t make them less deserving of care, respect, or kindness. Just as we want our own children to be treated with dignity, we should extend the same grace to those who serve in our homes.

What does it cost us to treat them with dignity? To buy them ice cream when we buy for our children? To ensure they receive education, not just so they can serve better, but because they deserve growth too? To treat them, not as shadows in the background, but as people worthy of respect?

Jesus said,

"So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." —Matthew 7:12

If we believe in kindness, fairness, and humanity, then we must reflect that in our actions.

Because no one deserves to live unseen.

And respect should never be a privilege, it is a right.