Theos-Talk Archives (December 1996 Message tl00516)

Tom Robertson:
>April Joy:
>>I lost another job because I had a baby and the boss thought it would
>>interfer with my work.

>Why do you believe he was wrong?

I have a solution, why don't we just have a mass sterilization?  That way,
no one will have children, thereby they can give their life blood to the
company.  I have seen BOTH men and women who have had to make sacrifices
for their children, sometimes at the expense of the maximum capacity they
could give to their employer.

I had a male co-worker who came in late and tired all the time because he
just had a new baby.  His household, by necessity, is a two income
household.  His wife was making more money than he, and had a much more
stable job.  In this two income family, he had to put in his share of
dealing with an unpredictable baby.  Unfortunately, this happened during
his first month on the job.  His supervisor was very unhappy with his
performance.

I've known several women who miraculously do their jobs very well and run a
household.  In a former job, an accounting supervisor managed to work 12
hour days, weekends, give her son support by attending all of his events,
cook supper and clean for her family every day.  She does it by coming in
at 6:00 a.m., leaving at 6:00 p.m., and eating lunch while she works.  She
took it upon herself to still do "women's work" because her husband makes 3
times what she is making, and she and he being traditional asians, would
not reliquish her traditional role as the wife.  She said that although her
husband can support her, for her self-esteem, she will not give up her job.
In that same job, I knew a woman who has 5 kids, work 40 hours a week,
attends classes paid by the company, and deals with a jerk of a boyfriend
who is emotionally abusive.  These women are breaking their necks for their
male supervisors who have wives who stay at home with the children.  While
these women are constantly busy, these supervisors have the luxury of
coming up to chit-chat as if they have nothing better to do.

The reality of today is that it is very difficult to have the traditional
households even if most women wish it.  By necessity, both partners have to
work in order to maintain a household with children.  A great number of the
households are women with the men giving either very little financial
support or none at all.  Also, the reality of today is that companies
demand more work for the money they are paying.  For your one flat yearly
salary, you are required to work at least 10 hour days and weekends.  The
excuse that you are only obligated to work a 40 hour week does not fly when
it comes to promotion, or if you are in a probationary period.  IMO, this
is madness.  With all this modern technology guaranteeing us faster
results, we are expecting even more fast and efficient results.  It's about
time that ALL companies be sensitive to the issue of parenting and
accommodate that.  When we don't take care of the needs of children, we are
contributing to the downfall of society.

TTT S=o)