What Does a Woman Want With a Career, Anyway?

     Shortly after my parents were married, and certainly long before I was conceived, my mother gave up her day job. "In my experience," she explained when I was grown up, "when a wife is employed, both husband and wife end up working harder." It should sound like common sense to anyone who has watched overworked mothers (and fathers). However, we are constantly being told that women are getting the rough end of the stick when it comes to careers, but what does a woman want with a career, anyway? No, this is not a facetious, provocative, male chauvinist quip. All right, perhaps it is, but it is not just a facetious, provocative, male chauvinist quip. It is a serious question demanding a serious answer.

What We Can Learn From Hobos

     What can we learn from the lives of hobos? Quite a bit, actually, if we are discerning. Back in 1907 W. H. Davies described his life as a tramp in the U.S. in a book entitled, The Autobiography of a Super Tramp. From his friends in the "business" he learned the fine art of identifying the best neighbourhoods and the best people to provide their free meals and pocket money, while they whiled away the rest of the day loafing. Being always interested in sharing quirky stories, I had written on another blog how they used to game the system to obtain free accommodation and meals at taxpayers' expense. The lamentable fact was that it was a deliberately chosen lifestyle, not forced upon them by economic necessity. The real victims of fate presumably spent their time looking for work as well as charity. So what can we learn from this?