This post is one of a series devoted to purchasing maid service on CRAIGSLIST. - Ed.
You know the story of Elizabeth Smart. Happy ending I suppose, but what happened to this family I wouldn't wish on anyone. It goes to prove that there are some nut jobs out there. It proves that we need to be vigilant about who we let into our homes, who we allow to interact with our families.
Hannibal Lecter: First principles, Clarice. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?
Clarice Starling: He kills women...
Hannibal Lecter: No! That is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does, what need does he serve by killing?
Clarice Starling: Anger, social resentment, sexual frustration...
Hannibal Lecter: No, he covets. That's his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer.
Clarice Starling:No. We just...
Hannibal Lecter: No. Precisely. We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don't you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? And don't your eyes move over the things you want?
Wacko Brian David Mitchell coveted Ed & Lois Smarts child. Lois Smart paid Mitchell $50, under the table, to fix her roof and a skylight in November of 2001. Seven months of coveting later he returned with the support of his third wife to kidnap young Elizabeth.
Surely, Lois Smart would have paid Mr. Mitchell more than $10 an hour if she had know he was, in fact, an angel sent down to restore fundamental values to the Church of Mormon.
Lois Smart didn't know that the Mormons excommunicated Mitchell. You don't hear about excommunications any more. Rare is the day we see a Scarlet Letter at the mall. Even Donny Osmand wasn't excluded from the congregation of believers for being a little bit rock 'n roll...so the Mormons must have had some case against Mitchell.
Lois Smart didn't know that Mitchel was a drifter who had just cleaned himself up in order to make money. He cut his hair. Shaved his beard. Looks can be deceiving. Don't judge a book by its cover.
It would be easy to perceive that the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Were our forefathers happier not having 24&7 cable news channels and the Drudge Report? They probably wouldn't have heard about a Utah families tragedy. I wonder if living in a vacuum would be better. There would still be evil people, but we just wouldn't hear about them as much.
The undeniable truth is we don't live in a vacuum, and we need to protect against evil people who covet our families and our homes. Hiring a handyman off the street, a maid that left a flyer on your front door, or a painter from Craigslist for that matter, might save you a few dollars...but at what cost? What is the ultimate price? What is your family worth to you?
If Mitchells references had been examined, Lois Smart would have never hired him. Every day of the week I interview applicants for our professional maid service, You've Got MAIDS, and everyday I turn down an applicant because she doesn't have adequate references. Every day I turn away people who want to work "under the table". It's a grind, but we screen applicants to find qualified residential cleaners who I have a clear conscious sending into my Clients homes. It is just that simple.
If you care about your family, hire licensed, bonded companies that do business out of brick and mortar buildings. Sure you might spend a few dollars more, but you're worth it.
