The Things Men Talk about…
The other day I was in a cafe planning for Work-At-Home Scam Prevention Week, when I overheard a group of men (about 5 of them) discussing how difficult it was for some moms to keep their jobs.
“I don’t think that schools should close on snow days. Some women will get fired if they don’t go to work and if they live in an area in which they could drive their child to school, school should be open to help them out.”
While I thought this was an interesting idea, having worked in schools for a few years, I don’t think its logistically viable.
“If a woman is going to be fired because of snow, there must be something wrong with her,” replied one man who is either not married, has no children or his wife is an at-home mom.
“Not necessarily,” said a third man. “We’ve had months in which my wife made it to work only two or three times a week because of the kids being sick or snow days.”
At first I had this warm tingly feeling that these men understood how difficult it is for women to balance work and family especially since they are the ones expected to care for the children when they are sick or school is closed. But then I got to thinking, why don’t the men volunteer to stay home when the kids are sick or on snow days (as my husband has volunteered to do if we get the sleet the weatherman has called for)? After all, they are loitering in a java joint at 11:30 am. Clearly their bosses are more open to flexible schedules.
[...] out this conversation I overheard at a java joint the other day. It was a group of men talking about the challenges of [...]
[...] out this conversation I overheard at a java joint the other day. It was a group of men talking about the challenges of [...]
It’s interesting that not one of those men you overheard even suggested it. It probably never entered their minds. Men take for granted, even in this day and age, that women are the ones in charge of the children. Luckily there are a few who have opened their minds to the possibility that raising children is the duty of both parents, but the old ways seem to be more convenient.
Hi Toni,
Old habits die hard. I have to say that I was pleased that a group of men would even have such a discussion and seem sympathetic to the cause. But, like you, I wanted to ask if maybe one of them had ever volunteered to stay home. Then again, since men still get paid more than women, perhaps she’s the one that needs to make the sacrifice. – Leslie