Welcome back to the blog series on “What is aide”. In my previous post I have explained what an aide and how it works, but this time we are going to see more about what a person who assists a person or group of people is called. So lets start talking about why they do that. And then once i was thinking if you know someone who does such work, then this will be perfect for the next part. Well it happened. I have known this woman for over 10 years now. She always helps me with all sorts of things. The problem is that she doesn’t help me with some of these tasks as well but sometimes we talk about certain things and she can come to me and talk about them. This has been a great relationship. It has given me so much joy that I can share all of those stories through her help. I also got married last month and just to share i am really happy and excited because after all this is how we meet everyone. Before we get started, let me give you the definition of assistant. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary “Aide is a general term for a number of people who serve at one’s elbow, assisting one another in the performance of their official duties, such as receiving and giving reports, serving on jury committees or working with others in government.”
Now what you should have in mind when your being asked about what is a “servant”? You may be asking yourself. What does it mean to provide the service of an aid? But before we explain that in more detail we need to define the word “assistant” first. Assisting in the sense that you are not providing any services yourself. It means that you are doing something else. The other meaning of assisting is that you are doing the thing you told or asked you to do. If, however, the task has already been done by others, you will not be considered an assistant. Now, what does the term “assistant” mean in our context? Let us assume that you are taking care of somebody who needs to go home earlier than usual. So, you would be helping him/her to take his/her bags to the door. Similarly, you would be helping somebody to collect their books or check their mail. All of this tasks are performed without getting paid for them. Just like a helper does the same work. Another example is if you can’t drive today, you won’t be able to perform any additional actions until you receive a new license. An aide who will carry out similar tasks is called a taxi driver. There is one big problem that arises from such definitions which is who gets what? Who can decide who gets to do what? Why is there no clear demarcation between who are helpers and what are assistants?
The answer is simple. Assistant is only a title because no matter who performs the particular task, the person who performs the task is only referred to as a “helper”. However, there exists a second definition of this word which is, “a member of a business enterprise who offers specialised skills to assist an employee or manager in carrying out their functions.” Also in accordance with that definition assistant is defined as ‘someone who assists another individual or team’. As mentioned above it means that the person who performs the task is not considered to be a servant or even the individual himself. However, the person he/she is assisting is referred to as an assistant. There is another way to look at someone who is performing the function for which he/she is called as an assistant. They also can play two roles simultaneously. That is being called an assistant and being involved with that job which is related to their field. That is called secondary assistant. This is the kind of person who is assisting a person but whose role is very broad yet they still possess the knowledge of their area of specialty. Then there is secondary coach and secondary teacher. Teacher helps students understand what they are supposed to learn; Coaching teaches students how to do those things; Secondary tutor is responsible enough to find out if a kid is prepared enough; Primary tutor gets ready kids for future examinations; Primary coach takes responsibility of child’s life; Junior mentor gives advice to youth; Senior mentor is a friend and confidante of seniors; Secretary is assigned to a department to deal with official matters and administration; Director is a career counselor and head of a company. These examples will show you that there is no fixed difference between what the word “assist’ implies and what exactly it means. As said previously, each person who performs the function assigned to him/her is assumed to be assisted.
Now what type of assistance does a supervisor require in order to make sure that this person does his/her job correctly? Yes, they generally require a lot of training and mentoring. When we talk about people who are engaged in work, it is generally referred to as employment. Hence, a worker who has started working could also be called an employee. On top of the fact that employees can be considered as employees also can’t be considered as assistants unless they are fulfilling the required function that they are performing in their workplace. For instance, if you want to teach somebody how to read, you are not an employee but if your a primary instructor who tells students how to master reading this is not an individual who is directly involved with your students but is considered as an employee.
So, everything that relates to providing service as well as giving any assistance to individuals is called an activity. Moreover, a business, organization or an institution can be considered as an employer if they provide employees with work and a salary. And finally, a professional can be regarded as a principal if a client seeks advice and consultation from him/her. Which are these definitions?
As you can see, there is no definite demarcation point between what is called an activity and what is called a person. What has been stated is enough for us to understand what is called an aid. To sum up, an aide is usually someone who assists a person or group of persons in accomplishing their tasks. However, if we want to include the person he/she is offering the service too, it will mean that they are not considered as assistants. From a legal perspective if a person is offering a service or assisting in order to accomplish a task; they are considered as his/her aides. In case where a person acts in a place occupied by another person, it will not seem like assisting but rather as occupying the space (or property) owned by another person. Sometimes people may act in situations where there is nobody around them. This normally referred to as unsolicited assistance. As an outsider is someone who comes into a place and starts interfering with the rights of the inhabitants without proper authority. At least, such persons cannot be considered as aids in any legal sense. And hence it is important to be careful that a person who is acting under the influence of another person is not regarded as a true aide.
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