I have to laugh at columns such as Laurie Sontag’s on March
25,
”
Like father, like son
– when it comes to laundry
”
because she manages, somehow, to blame her husband for not doing
laundry during their marriage while admitting she has banished him
from the laundry room because he did it wrong once.
Dear Editor,
I have to laugh at columns such as Laurie Sontag’s on March 25, “Like father, like son – when it comes to laundry” because she manages, somehow, to blame her husband for not doing laundry during their marriage while admitting she has banished him from the laundry room because he did it wrong once. Instead of educating him on the correct way to do the laundry, she would rather appoint herself Laundry Queen.
I understand that Ms. Sontag is using humor to make her point – at her husband’s expense, but then husbands are easy targets, aren’t they? I also noticed that Ms. Sontag admits she doesn’t know where the BBQ lives. I would guess that she (and some of her female readers nodding their heads reading her column) doesn’t know where the lawn mower and string trimmer live, or know how air gets in the tires, trees get trimmed, or toilets unclogged.
It’s no secret that women do more work in the house than men do. Sometimes, though, women seem to prefer it that way. If you take the job away from men by saying “You don’t clean well enough,” then you shouldn’t expect us to volunteer for the criticism. Between my wife and me, the laundry gets done by whoever has the time to do it since both of us have mastered the art of laundry.
We do have some boundaries: she won’t pick up cat or dog poop, but she regularly cleans the chicken coop. I have been known to clean house, though I’ll admit I need to do it more often and more thoroughly. On the other hand, my wife knows where the lawn mower, string trimmer, rototiller, and chipper/shredder live, and she not only knows how they work, she also uses them when necessary.
Every man/boy should know how to wash clothes, clean house, cook a meal, and wash dishes. But every woman/girl should also know how to wield a hammer, saw, drill, and lawnmower, put oil and water in the car, and change a tire. These are not gender-specific roles; these are life-chores that need to be done, and they should be done by everyone. If you give the guys a pass on doing the laundry, you can’t be upset if they don’t do it. But you shouldn’t give the gals a pass on the yard work either.
It sounds to me as if Ms. Sontag doesn’t need to program the GPS coordinates to the laundry room for her husband and son, she just needs to take the lock off the door. But at the same time, she may want to program her own GPS for the tool shed.
Craig Lore, San Martin
