There is Man’s Work and there is Woman’s Work. Woman’s Work includes things like dusting furniture, doing laundry, addressing Christmas cards, remembering birthdays, shopping for grandchildren, cooking Thanksgiving Dinner and shoe shopping. Man’s work includes chores such as changing the oil in cars by yourself, climbing on roofs to clean the gutters, replacing the insides of leaking commodes, sucking poison out of venomous snake bites, digging fence post holes, and catching spiders in the bathtub. My wife is very good at doing Woman’s Work, but I’m not at all good in the Man’s Work department, except that I can catch spiders in the bathtub.
Things like hammers, nails, wrenches, and Phillip’s head screwdrivers are foreign objects to my brain. I am basically useless when it comes to traditional Man’s Work.
Understanding my weaknesses, my wife has deemed lesser tasks for my Man’s Work. Changing batteries in remotes and flashlights, for example.
Replacing dead or dying batteries is one of my chief jobs around the house, and I come prepared. A few years back, I went to Sam’s Club and bought a three-dozen pack of every size battery that’s ever been made, and when we need a few a few AA’s or D cells, I am on it. I have even figured out that the flat part of the batteries go on the springy things and the positive end goes the other way. Tada!
Another of my Man’s Work jobs is to set the clocks when the power goes off or when we “leap forward” or “fall back.” I am a master at setting clocks, except for the one in the kitchen which requires a ladder to reach. That one runs a little slow, but it’s right twice a day.
Grass Mowing is a major part of my Man’s Work. Having an electric mower that does not require pulling on cords, mixing the correct amount of oil in the gasoline, or changing spark plugs has definitely made grass mowing easier. Remembering to recharge the battery has sometimes resulted in having to cut grass when it’s a little taller than usual.
Another item on my Man’s Work check list is turning the gas logs on or off as required. I am pretty good at turning it off – just shut off the gas line. Getting it to start back up each October is a different story. This is serious Man’s Work. It requires getting down on hands and knee and trying to remember when to push and when to activate the gas control and ignition switches. Getting those steps wrong has caused a massive loss of eyelashes, eyebrows and arm hair in the past, but somehow, after much trial and error – poof! The gas logs somehow come on.
A Man’s Work is never done.
