The New York Times Tackles Nannygate at the Slope Food Co-op...
The Times has an in-depth investigation into a rumor posted on Fucked in Park Slope last week about how some members of the Park Slope Food Co-op have their nannies working their shifts. So does it happen, and is it kosher? “‘As much as people think we are Big Brother and watch people, we don’t…
The Times has an in-depth investigation into a rumor posted on Fucked in Park Slope last week about how some members of the Park Slope Food Co-op have their nannies working their shifts. So does it happen, and is it kosher? “‘As much as people think we are Big Brother and watch people, we don’t know these things,’ [Ann Herpel, the co-op’s general coordinator] said when asked how big the problem was. ‘But I don’t think it is one of our major problems.’ She said the most likely situation is one in which a nanny is a member of the co-op in her own right and agrees to work her employer’s shift, and therefore would not be easily detected.” We may never know.
“they should make a reality show around it”
zomg. I would buy a tv and get cable to watch that.
can someone please suggest a local blog that sifts-out hateful comments? this one’s so tedious to read anymore
oh the horror
food nazis meet the yuppies.
nyt reporters phoning it in again.
I love comments. Am I the only one? It is such comic relief.
Reality is PSFC has 16,000 members. Who make the rules. Any one of them could get the issue of paying for work shifts issue onto a general meeting agenda and revisit how changing that rule would affect the culture, cost savings and purpose of the co-op.
The co-op is member owned and run. That is the point.
they should make a reality show around it
*rob*
The Coop could lower prices by simply letting NY ‘journalists’ pay to hang around and come up with even more PS stories, since apparently there is endless appetite for every ridiculous issue that ever comes up in Park Slope.
I avoided the draft during the civil war by paying a few dollars for some fresh off the boat Irish guy to take my place. Nothing wrong with that right?
To butterfly and others. Please stop using the term moonface to denote white people from here or any other area. It was funny for a while but its getting out of control. Its like saying nigger. Does anyone want to go back to those days?
“Seemed like a win-win situation all around, and I really don’t see anything elitist about it.â€
Shouldn’t those who have money to shop elsewhere give up slots to those who cannot afford traditional grocery prices? By having your nanny in there you’ve missing the point of doing the work that goes along with receiving the benefit.
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I did the work for years, and just got tired of the PSFC’s own particular brand of co-opness. So I didn’t miss the point so much as get tired of it.
As for giving up slots, at that time there was no shortage of “slots,” although I think now they have so many members that there might not be enough slots for new members, in which case I would agree with you. But again — PSFC rules require all adult members of a household to join the Co-op, and explicitly permit household members to do each other’s work shifts. (And who says I had the money to shop elsewhere? I do now, but I didn’t then. I was a single working mother who had an au pair so I could have someone home with my kids while I worked to pay the bills.)
The only reason I’m sharing my own particular experience is to flesh out the story as reported in the Times. I also posted on the FIPS blog, but I couldn’t help but notice that the Times reporter didn’t include my perspective in the article.