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    Die Hausmann (The Houseman)

    Honestly, the first time I was called, it rubbed me the wrong way.  Maybe it was because of the accent “HA-ous-Mah-n.”  Perhaps it was because it was something that I never identified myself with before.  I mean to answer a question posed by strangers, “Was tun Sie hier in der Schweiz zu tun?” (What do you do here in Switzerland?) “Ich bin eine Hausmann” (I am a Houseman) is awkward. On the one hand, it sounds way too formal for washing floors and toilets. On the other hand, it sounds like I should be getting paid for this.  And that’s the thing.  There lies the rub.  Being a Hausmann has…