This sounds like a case where we should just change the syntax. If Betty is the maid it should be written:
They went to Oregon with Betty [a maid], and a cook. They went to Oregon with Betty [a maid], and a cook.I get lazy with adding the comma before the "and" in list, and without fail I hear my grandmother/father/teachers pointing out how wrong I am for doing so. Same for my use of semicolons followed by "and" or "but".
I never realized the Oxford comma was even something up for debate.
((That (is (the (most natural) syntax))) and ((all (of us)) (should (switch (to it))))).