Tales of woe.

I was talking to students about raising children.  I  asked a couple of the students if they were good mothers.  Now I realize the wording of the question would be offensive to most mothers; but in a situation with students whose English ability is limited, you can't ask subtle questions.  And the question was part of a plea for advice and conversation from them.  Woman like to talk about raising children. 

Anyway, I asked the question and one of the woman gave me a startling answer.  She told me she was not a good mother to her child when it was one and two years old.  After saying I found this hard to believe, I asked her why.  She told me that  she was working in a different town and her in-laws took care of the children.  Separation from family members for work is a story I have heard far too often from the students, but the separation of a mother and her infant tops all the other tales I have heard.   I hate to contemplate the economic pressures that made a woman feel she had to do that.  (This woman also told me she would have liked to have four children.)

I have also heard a tale of workers signing five year contracts that impose heavy monetary fines on them if they decide to quit.  One man apparently signed a contract for five years at 800 rmb a month.  He signed it because at the time he needed to eat.