Thursday, November 2, 2017

One from Column A


My home is pretty organized (I mean, I am not so organized, but the way my home runs is organized). I take care of all the fun and people things - organizing Shabbat weekends with the kids, planning vacations, chatting with neighbors at the door, folding family laundry a week after it comes out of the dryer. I am sure I do more things in my home. I mean, I think I do.
Really, there must be more domestic stuff in my Column, which is Column B on our home spreadsheet. Think. But the truth is that I'm not home all that much. Between meetings, events, making movies, producing shows, rehearsing for the next project, I don't clock a lot of home time.

Column A
My husband is in charge of Column A. Column A consists of all the vital foundational things - paying the bills, going to the post office, interacting with government offices, going through the mail, knowing everyone's ID numbers, coordinating workmen for whatever needs work 😊, taking the car into the shop, filing important papers, charity for the mendicants at the door.
My husband is a perfect Column A guy. (He should live and be well until 120.) I don't want to take any pleasures away from him, but one day I'm planning to ask where the bank is, and how you pay the electric bill. Just stam (for the heck of it), because women should know everything.
Now, please don't jump to conclusions. My lack of involvement in Column A has nothing to do with male domination or lack of women's empowerment. I was just never interested in any of those Column A things.

Intersecting Columns
Today that changed. On my way back from Rechovot, my tire felt very flat. "Hmm, Izzy had better take care of that," I thought. Then I realized that I wouldn't make it home to him with a flat tire. So, I drove into the gas station and asked the guy behind the counter to please fill my tires.
His answer left me speechless. "We don't do that here."
"What, you have no air?"
"Yes, we have air. You fill it yourself."
Suddenly I heard a dissonant chord pound on a piano. I should fill a tire? That's totally Column A.
Besides, how do you do that? Of course, I had seen folks put air in their tires before, but I couldn't figure out a) how the air came out of that metal nozzle and b) how the air did not come out of the tire if you took the cap off.
A big thank you to my son Micha, who gave me instructions over the phone on How to Fill a Tire 101. It worked perfectly. I was so excited,  I put air in all my tires. Then I took a selfie!
This has changed my life.
I decided that next, I'm going to find out what interesting things I can do at the post office and how to pay the electric bill. I always tell young women, "Be independent. Know everything!" I've decided to begin learning some Column B stuff too.

3 comments:

  1. Considering how long you've been driving, you're lucky that that was the first time you needed such a skill. I haven't driven for 35 years, and we don't own a car. But one time I found myself in a tremp...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know I'm lucky, B"H. I still always keep in mind who to call if I have a problem. I'm starting to think I can take care of some of them myself.

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  2. It's a fine line because I totally agree, not only not interested in a lot of Column A, my husband is so much better at it, so why fill my head with more stuff? And in today's world, where there's usually help at the end of a button (as long as you keep your phone charged 😁)

    ReplyDelete

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