venus vs mars.....

During the 70's a boom of Equal Rights for Women was the battle cry of most females. It mostly pertained to wages being level for the same jobs amongst the sexes. That was pretty fundamental, and I agreed that pay scales should be the same, no matter who did the job. However it took on a life of it's own and became one of those situations where the sexes differed on the definition of jobs. We didn't work so hard to get the bill passed so that we could take over every aspect of every job out there.... but if we qualified, why not allow us to do it, and get paid the same as well.

This may seem old-fashioned and sexist, but there are still some things that I do believe are a man's job and women may pull out the "sex card" in order to scam it off on them. This would include any dead animal that took it's demise in our yard. Since I can become overtaken immediately by little carcasses left laying around by the neighbors cat, I have deemed it my husbands job to get the shovel out and dispose of the little bodies. It's not that I would faint, but I do feel the rumblings in my stomach that let's me know I need to visit the porcelain king soon.

Another job I've turned over is climbing on a high ladder up to the roof. It's not that I'm afraid of heights, just that I need more protection than air around me to feel safe. Put me into a glass enclosed elevator, and my nose is pressed up to the window to look out, ladders are another matter entirely. One wrong move, and it could be curtains; it's all I can think of while up there.
Luckily my husband is part carpenter, and has no problems with it that I know of. He did suffer a bad fall well before I knew him, missing a spike that could have impaled him. After a brief visit in the hospital, he was back on the job site, and back up the ladder. Me, I'd rather be the spotter. Not that I could do anything but make him feel somewhat comfortable that I'm holding the ladder steady.... but if he fell, well, it's not like I could catch him or anything.

I have no problems doing the yard work, and actually enjoy mowing the grass (when I have it to mow). Nor do I shy away from painting, pounding nails, trimming and pruning, or most manual labor.... as long as it's on the ground, or close enough to it. When it comes time to clean gutters though, I'd rather rake up the mess. There's too many moving parts to the task for me to be comfortable up on a ladder. Again, this becomes a "mans job" in my book. I'm much better with the clean-up end of the job.

When it came time to teach our son how to drive, I took him out to parking lots and let him ride around getting the feel of the engine, wheel, gas pedal, and most importantly, the brake. When it came to surface streets, I turned it over to my husband.... again deeming it his job, as his nerves are more stable than mine. It's not to say that we didn't try it once, thereby having me make the decision it was best to have his father take over. I wasn't a wreck doing it, but knew I wasn't doing any good at being his co-pilot because he argued over my techniques and it threw me off in my teachings. It was best for me to step down and consider it a "mans job". I'm glad I did, as my son is a good safe driver and still can't understand why his insurance rates are three times that of ours. Welcome to life, we told him.

There is one area where I know my skills as a woman come in very handy.... other than being the maid, housekeeper, and laundry queen. It would be in asking for directions. Why is it that a man will go into a store and look all over for a particular item; or drive 50 miles out of their way because "the exit has to be here somewhere"? I don't like to waste my time on either adventure. If I am looking for an item offered in a sale flyer, I go straight to customer service and ask them where in the store they have it displayed. On the road, I will stop at a service station or convenience store to ask directions. Better yet, I will have brought the phone number with me and give the party a call to set me straight. To me, that's just simple deduction and time saving so I can get onto the next hundreds tasks I've lined up for myself that day.
I once asked my brother why men would go so far out of their way when a simple stop and ask would suffice. He answered that it was a possibility it would make men look foolish, as whatever they were asking for would most likely be right in front of their faces. I answered back: Yeah, so???? Because I just didn't get it. I've done it a million times, and never feel foolish. Heck, most of the time I just laugh it off telling the clerk that if it were a snake it would have bit me, and go on my way. No red face of embarrassment here.

So in the years that "we have come a long way baby", some things still remain the same. Men are from Mars, women from Venus, and the planets have their own rules they live and work by.
The point which we all forget, is that when we work together the lines blur enough so that the tasks even out. Getting monetary or personal satisfaction equally, should blur the lines as well.
Just don't look for me with that shovel of a dead critter... that is my husbands job.