THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501271092
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN PAGE: 2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Your Turn
SOURCE: BY JUDITH HAGUE, SPECIAL TO HRW
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
NOT TOO long ago, I contemplated installing hardwood floors in my living and dining rooms. I went to the customer information desk at my local superhardware and asked the clerk if I could handle such a task. He asked a few simple questions about the condition and surface of the current flooring, and then replied, ``I see no reason why you can't!'' He gave me step-by-step instructions on how to complete this project. While he was talking, a mature, gray-haired gentlemen stepped beside me and waited for his turn to ask the clerk a question.
As I walked away, I overheard this gentleman say to the clerk, ``I can't believe she's going to do a job like that! She doesn't look like the type of woman who would be doing her own h-o-m-e remodeling.'' I heard the clerk reply with irritation, ``Women come in here all the time and ask questions about remodeling and home repairs. There's a lot of single women these days, and with the cost of labor so high, many cannot afford to get the jobs done unless they do the labor themselves.'' As I turned and glanced at the gentlemen, I saw the mature customer shake his head and reply, ``I still can't get used to women doing things like that. It's just not the feminine thing to do!''
I smiled and chuckled to myself as I walked down the aisle toward the checkout counter. You see, I was raised in a very traditional household in the '50s - one of those Beaver Cleaver environments. My mother was a homemaker. She always wore a dress, lipstick and perfume (even when she did housework), and no one ever saw her hair tossled or uncurled. But most importantly, she never sweated (she didn't even perspire) because she never did tasks that would require her to exert herself or get overheated. My father did the yard work, washed and waxed the car, cleaned out the cellar and attic, and did all the home repairs and remodeling projects. Every now and then, as my father was tackling some very laborious task around our home (and sweating like a man who had been walking in the Mojave Desert), my mother would bring him a cool drink and comment on the fine job he was doing. Then she would return to some sedentary task like sewing or reading a book.
As I stood in line at the checkout register with my basket filled with flooring paraphernalia, I reflected on all the projects I have undertaken: painting, wallpapering, creating a solarium in my kitchen and retiling my bathroom. I wondered what my father would have said about all this if he were still alive? I'm sure he would have been amazed at what I have accomplished by myself as a single female. In his mind, women weren't capable of laborious tasks. But for a woman to work full time outside the home, raise a family, do housework and yard work, and even attempt such physical projects as home remodeling, that would have really boggled his mind - just like the customer standing at the service desk.
As the clerk rang up my purchases, I reflected on the satisfaction I had derived from accomplishing projects myself. My mother's achievements were greatly limited to raising her family and housework. She never had the options women have today nor was she allowed the knowledge and the pleasure from learning so many new skills and accomplishing so many diverse tasks. Suddenly the clerk said, ``That will be $529.81.'' As I paid for my purchases, I thought, ``I can't wait to get this stuff home so I can get started. Imagine hardwood floors for $500! They're going to look s-o-o great! I wonder what my next project will be!'' MEMO: Judith Hague is a resident of Virginia Beach.
by CNB