COOL OR NOT COOL: Having Your Nanny Do Your Coop Shift??

photo via Park Slope Lens

Ok, so this totally comes from downtown rumor-ville as:

a. it's second hand knowledge; and
b. I don't even belong to the Park Slope Food Coop, so I have no fucking idea how it works.

Howevz.

One of my BREEDER friends has a new babysitter who works a few days for another family in Park Slope. And she hangs with their nanny, who hangs with all of the other neighborhood nannies. And apparently, there's this big dirty little secret amongst the Park Slope Gliterati: many of the well-to-do families in the area who have full-time help, routinely send their nannies and/or their housekeepers to do their Coop shifts.

Now, personally, I believe in outsourcing every last thing I can possibly outsource. I would pay someone to stand outside of my bathroom and brush my goddamned teeth every day if I could afford it..so I honestly don't really see the big deal here. BUT, there is def an added layer of fucked-up-ness when you take into consideration the idea behind the Coop. Cause while I don't have their mission statement in front of me, I'm pretty sure it's not: "Cheap food for all! And by 'all' we mean anyone who can afford to send their hired help to do their Coop shift! Rest of you poor btchz are SOL!"

We checked in with Park Slope Food Coop General Manager Joe Holtz about this ish, and here's what he had to say:

"The only way this would be ok with the Coop is if the nanny in question was a live-in nanny. Then as part of the household, they would be expected to sign up as a member of that household. It is fine for one member of the household to do the workshifts for other members of their household. It is never ok for a non-member to work at the coop. Also, years ago the coop decided that it was not ok to pay someone outside of your household to do your shift for you."

So there you have it folks! Just be rich enough to have a full-time live-in staff, and then you can just make your hired help do all your Coop shifts for you!