Blog 4

Although our topics these past two weeks were over reproductive rights and sexuality, my blog this week is actually sparked by a tragic story of a co-worker. This male co-worker is happily married with five young children, but just two weeks ago, a driver blew a stop sign, killing his wife and putting two of his children in the hospital in serious condition. It was a very sad time for him (and very much still is), but now he is back at work and I have been silently observing him trying to put all the pieces back together, and getting his life back into some sort of normality. What shocks me is that he is completely lost - he has no clue how to pay bills, who to talk to at the daycare, how to use the filing cabinet his wife had super-organized or even what accounts his check goes into. He is completely flustered and overwhelmed with getting his kids to school and daycare, keeping the house and trying to keep on top of everything else. I understand that this is a hard time and so things are going to be extra difficult, but it made me think about my marriage a bit and how women are often the "super-woman" in the relationship and do it all, running themselves ragged, often without a thank you. Through this sad time, I sat down with my husband and had a serious conversation because I realized he would be going through the same thing if something were to happen to me - he has no idea who our mortgage company even is or how to pay the bill. I know that for many many years, women were expected to do everything at home simply because they didn't work and had the time to, but when are men going to pick up some of the slack since many women are also now working full time. When are our efforts finally going to be appreciated or some of the load is going to be lightened? After a tragedy when they are forced to? I surely hope not.