"no sense"
This lovely chilly foggy San Franciscan night, I had a rare opportunity to have an interesting conversation with an high-middle-aged(=old) Japanese man. Things I found about him were; he is visiting here for business and also private purposes, he established and successed in his business, he has a huge respect for Budda, he married to a doughter of a president of a very big company in Japan, his wife is very active that she is traveling around the US while he is here and even trying to go to a university in Thailand and then in the US.
We had a conversation about how young people in Japan thesedays are spoiled and getting too used to "peace" that they seem to have no sense of fear that thier home country, Japan, may fall. He lectured me that we, young generation, must take care of our home country with our intelligence and technology.
Then he asked what my "dream" is. I said, "a housewife". He said, "...what?".
I told him that how I grew up seeing my mother working as a housewife and now, I really appreciate and respect her. I even think being a housewife is actually the hardest job which you get no money no matter how hard you work but essential to raise next generation. And what's more, I do love housekeeping. Those points of objection I showed him, however, weren't strong enough to move him. He told me that people like me, having a lot of energy and going out to the bigger world to experience and learn, should be the ones who lead our country. In his philosophy, dreaming to be a housewife is cheap and non-sense that does not contribute society at all. He believes that working for companies, communities, and politics are the real contribution to our society and every one of us should be willing to sacrifice our life to our society because our individual bodies and souls are given to do so, not to dream about personal ego.
I did not say anything after his lecture, but inside of my mind, there was a complicated feeling.
We had a conversation about how young people in Japan thesedays are spoiled and getting too used to "peace" that they seem to have no sense of fear that thier home country, Japan, may fall. He lectured me that we, young generation, must take care of our home country with our intelligence and technology.
Then he asked what my "dream" is. I said, "a housewife". He said, "...what?".
I told him that how I grew up seeing my mother working as a housewife and now, I really appreciate and respect her. I even think being a housewife is actually the hardest job which you get no money no matter how hard you work but essential to raise next generation. And what's more, I do love housekeeping. Those points of objection I showed him, however, weren't strong enough to move him. He told me that people like me, having a lot of energy and going out to the bigger world to experience and learn, should be the ones who lead our country. In his philosophy, dreaming to be a housewife is cheap and non-sense that does not contribute society at all. He believes that working for companies, communities, and politics are the real contribution to our society and every one of us should be willing to sacrifice our life to our society because our individual bodies and souls are given to do so, not to dream about personal ego.
I did not say anything after his lecture, but inside of my mind, there was a complicated feeling.
posted by sheeep at 11:01 PM
1 Comments:
Why spend so much time and money on your education just to go home and cook and clean and raise babies? It's difficult because it's depressing as shit and it's the same crap day after day. What happens when the kids grow up? What if you need a job to support your family (I know every straight girl thinks she's going to fall in love with and marry a man with plenty of money and a good job but it doesn't always happen). I know plenty of "housewives" and "stay-at-home-moms" and they're all bitchy, depressed, irritable people. It's also, contrary to popular belief, not as difficult as people like to think. The only thing that makes it hard is that you can't leave work. You're stuck there constantly trying to keep up with shit and you never get a break, you never get out, you never get the chance to put your skills to good use, you get very little recognition, very little change, very little social life, very little impact on society other than to raise children that you hope will someday make a mark on society (which is slightly hypocritical if you ask me). I have to agree with this old man, I really don't think I will ever understand the urge to make being a "housewife" your life-long career. What's the point?
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