The gal checking me out said "Man, I'm tired". I stopped putting my stuff on the counter and stared at her.
My first question: "How long have you been married?"
Her answer: "Oh, I'm not married"
My next question: "How many kids do you have?"
I knew what the answer to this one was: "Oh, I don't have any kids...I'm still in college."
Okay..that threw a kink in me because I had three kids....worked full time..and finished a teaching degree. I remember going into the bathroom just so I could study!
My third question: "How many will be at your house for supper?"
She told me that she'd probably go thru the Sonic drive-in and pick up something for just herself.
So, instead of being scarcastic..I said, so you're in school? (We're in a small university town)
Her response was "Yes, I take a few classes....but I still live at home." Meaning, she still has a mama to answer to.
So, THEN I got on my soap box. I told her that when she had been married for almost 30 years, when she has raised three boys, when she had five people to cook supper for AFTER she had worked a 9 hours shift at a paying job and then went and helped her husband in the field....THEN, she could complain that she was tired.
She asked me what all I had done today: (brave soul she is):
Went to work at 7am
After work, went to the field and took the fuel tank to fill it up....spent $800. on farm diesel
Pulled an ammonia tank to the co-op to be refilled (that's another $2K) and needed to hurry my trip thru the store because I had to fix supper for the guys and take it back out to the field.
Her next question?
"So, are boys easier to raise than girls?"
Where this came from, I have no idea.
I told her that I had no idea, but it's what God gave me...so I made the most of it.
I then told her:
We've only had one broken bone
That the ambulance can get to our house in 8 minutes (they've made the trip twice)
That your heart will break when they put your baby in the helicopter
That you need to learn CRP because one of them will test your abilities
That you need to learn first-aid and you will use a medicine chest full of Bacatricin and band-aids monthly
That you should buy stock (not the cow-kind) in Wrangler, Ariat, Mt.Dew, Folgers Coffee, Tide and Miss Clairol
That we only had a few fingers missing
That red dirt will not wash out of white socks
That you had to learn to do background checks on girls who chased your boys.
She just glared at me and then said "I'm tired from listening to you".
I told her that it was at least an honest tired and that if she ever had some free time to come out and follow me (us) around.
She then wanted to know if I had any single boys. I asked her if she knew how to cook, do laundry or could drive a tractor. She didn't answer. I was hoping just to hire her for a day or two to catch me up!
19 comments:
I'm tired too, and impressed and amused. I went into a tirade the other day when I was talking to my brother about stay at home moms. I believe in stay at home moms, but I can't feel too sympathetic if they are overwhelmed, because I had to do most everything they do, but with about 8-10 hours less a day to do it. We tend to see things from our own perspective.
We've only had one broken bone
That the ambulance can get to our house in 8 minutes (they've made the trip twice)
That your heart will break when they put your baby in the helicopter
That you need to learn CRP because one of them will test your abilities
That you need to learn first-aid and you will use a medicine chest full of Bacatricin and band-aids monthly
That you should buy stock (not the cow-kind) in Wrangler, Ariat, Mt.Dew, Folgers Coffee, Tide and Miss Clairol
That we only had a few fingers missing
That red dirt will not wash out of white socks
That you had to learn to do background checks on girls who chased your boys.
ACK!
Well, I ain't single, or looking! But yes, I can cook, do laundry and drive a tractor. :D
It was important to my dad that us kids knew how to operate the tractor. I'd probably need a quick refresher course (it's been 4 years).
Wouldn't mind helping out for a few days, if you don't mind paying me in wheat. ;)
This reminds me when I went back to college and listened to a high school student say she "doesn't know how she will get everything done-she had a piano recital and she just did not know how she was going to study for her college class."
I wanted to ask her who did her laundry and cooked her meals. Did she have 2 toddlers to take care of? Was she working full time"? Were she and her husband farming full time, milking cows? Was she canning every fruit and vegetable she could get her hands on, because there was no other way to feed her family? Was she taping her notes so she could listen to them in the tractor and try to study during harvest?
I just kept thinking you have no clue about the real world.
By the way, I have taken a first aid course for farm families because you will be the first one on the scene of an accident and unfortunetly I have needed to put into use (with a good outcome.)
Continue to educate the unknowing.
PS Agriculture really is a great play to raise children.
ok, now that i've stopped laughing i can type. i so wanted to be behind you in line with a video camera. good for you giving a lesson in what "tired" really means.
Ok, so I took a nap after reading that! Poor dear, you probably scared her half to death and she will never do any of those things! ROFLOL!!!
OMG you sure made me laugh. I can imagine the poor girls face but better still imagine YOUR face as you went through this entire exchange!!
LOL! Good for you! I can just see her bored face and hear the deep sighing...... geeesh. Oh and BTW - boys are MUCH easier, even with all the ambulance runs!
I hear you! I can't figure out why my staff "NEEDS" 2 days off a week when we have a short season - and then they complain that they are tired. Huh? And my charming Little Boy knows how to cook AND do laundry - he is still excused from driving because his legs aren't long enough yet, but the day is fast approaching -LOL!
Cheers!
Evelyn
FUNNY!!! But too true :)
Jeanne
Good for you!!! :-)
You made my day! I laughed so hard when I read this.
Oh, that's hilarious! Wonder if she'll even think of it again before she complains about being tired.
LOL!!! What a hoot! Bet she will think twice about what it means to be tired! lol
She was tired because she didn't do enough physical stuff! I think that the physical activity actually GIVES you energy! My own best days are when I've 'run' all day and look back and can say, Wow, did I do all that? (well, some days I don't do squat!) Loved this post, enjoyed the newewrphoto in your banner with the flip flops driving the ? combine. 8-)
I left an award for you on my blog. I so enjoy reading about your farm, raising boys, FFA and everything else.
I so can identify with this! Good for you, and amen to the background checks.
That poor, unsuspecting girl.. LOL
Saska, you crack me up!!! Just lay it on the line, eh?!
neen
I just loved this!!
Train them up, I wish she could go to your place for a few days-or perhaps northern Africa? Either way, her view of life may alter! Tracey
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