~A MOTHER'S JOB DESCRIPTION~
A few months ago, when I was picking up the children at school, another
mother I knew well, rushed up to me. Emily was fuming with indignation."Do
you know what you and I are?" she demanded.
Before I could answer - and I didn't really have one handy - she
blurted out the reason for her question. It seemed she had just returned
from renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's office. Asked by
the woman recorder to state her "occupation," Emily had hesitated,
uncertain how to classify herself.
"What I mean is," explained the recorder, "Do you have a job, or are
you just a ......?""Of course I have a job," snapped Emily. "I'm a mother."
"We don't list "mother" as an occupation..."housewife" covers it," said
the recorder emphatically.
I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same
situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a
career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high-sounding
title, like "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar."
"And what is your occupation?" she probed.
What made me say it, I do not know. The words simply popped out.
"I'm....a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and
Human Relations."
The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in mid-air, and looked up as
though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly,emphasizing
the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pompous
pronouncement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your
field?"Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply,
"I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn't) in the
laboratory and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and
out). I'm working for my Masters (the whole darned family) and already
have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most
demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?) and I often
work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging
than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are in satisfaction
rather than just money."
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she
completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.
As I drove into our driveway buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I
was greeted by my lab assistants---age 13, 7, and 3. And upstairs, I could
hear our new experimental model (six months) in the child-development
program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt triumphant. I had scored
a beat on bureaucracy. And I had gone
down on the official records as someone more distinguished and
indispensable to mankind than "just another......"
Home...what a glorious career. Especially when there's a title on the door.
~author unknown~