Breadwinning
Every Morning
Dad and Mom leave the
house and go out on a breadwinning mission.
End Month
Dad and Mom bring home
their pay checks. Pen and paper in hand, its budgeting time. Bills, investments
etc. are the agendas.
On the first day of the
month they both hit the road again and the cycle continues.
Housework
Don’t even go there. It’s
a tug of war.
Dad says, “Babe where is
my food. Please iron my shirt. Feed the baby. And blah blah blah ….”
Mom goes like, “Dude are
you for real, do I look like a super machine that works on a 24 hr basis while
you do 12?”
Dad either walks out of
the door enraged and goes out to look for consolation elsewhere or retorts
bitterly, “you’re my wife and housework is your duty, didn’t your mama train
you? Go get my food and stop complaining.”
Mom is now weeping and
mutters amid sobs, “but honey we’re both doing the breadwinning don’t you think
we should share the housework too.”
Dad sinks deeper into the
coach, feet on the table, raises the volume on the TV set and buries his head
in the newspaper.
Mom drags her
feet to the kitchen and grudgingly does the necessary.
Outcome
Either the home becomes a
permanent war zone or fatigue wears mama out. And she becomes a top client at
the clinic. Or worse still, a lawyer banks yet another fat check, out of a
successful divorce case.
Traditional Setting
Breadwinning
Every Morning
Dad goes out on a
breadwinning mission.
End Month
Dad brings home the pay
check and calls out mama, “dear, bring me your budget.” Dad incorporates mama’s
budget into his, does some adjustments here and there, reaches for his wallet
and hands mama some cash. She walks away satisfied.
Dad takes care of the
other bills and investments. And life goes on.
Housework
Mom’s territory. She’s
well versed with the ins and outs of this arena. Everything is in its place at
the right time.
Unfortunately, mama is a
financial cripple and this blows dad’s ego out of proportion. Mom puts on her
war gear, *submission* and she sure wins the battle.
As dad’s ego increases,
mama begins to feel the pressure. She lays low to the point where she can
barely 'breath'.
Outcome
A sitting at Beijing is
convened.
Observation and Recommendation
There is a dire need to
rectify what needs rectifying and adjust where necessary to guarantee healthy
modern families. It’s time for the society to rise up and face reality instead
of relying on redundant systems, which thrive in UNFAIRNESS and UNNECESSARY
POWER BATTLES.
However, whichever setting you
find yourself in, let FAIRNESS be your guiding principle.
And for better or worse,
strive to keep it together.
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