"Yes, twenty- eight times for each bite. Okay, we are going to side track from the schedule for the rest of the day. Close your text books. You are free to take notes, but you will never be tested on this information and you may ask and offer whatever you wish."

A few minutes later, they were organized for their unknown adventure. Everyone had note books out and pencils ready.

"This will be a life lesson, instead of an instructional lesson. Does everyone understand that concept?"

They all nodded.

"Each of you have life lessons that are important to you alone or perhaps you and your family. Everyone has reasons that certain things happen repeatedly. Today I hope that what I share will inspire you or at least some of you to make some small changes that will affect your life and the lives of your family. Does that make sense?"

Again, a roomful of nods.

"First of all, I need to ask a few questions. Only those who wish to answer, should respond. And I don't need the whole room to do so. Who does the grocery shopping in your home? Who does the meal preparation? Does your mother work outside the home? How many children in your home? Who does the housework? The laundry?"

Several hands went up, and I wrote brief notes as I gathered information.

"I have noticed from those who responded that there were only a few of students who were an only child, are there other others here, beyond asking that I will not bother the non-responders further."

Three more hands went up. This meant that in a class room of thirty, nine of those were only children. Almost one-third, interesting. In most cases it was the mother figure who shopped, cooked, did the housework and all worked outside the home. The only time any type of help was offered was with the female students.

"Would someone describe your typical day, actually a typical weekday and a weekend day?"
Stan volunteered, "On a week day, I get up around 6am, shower, get dressed, have breakfast, grab my books, coat and stuff and I am out the door. I catch the bus then switch to the subway, get off at the stop up the street, walk here, have class until lunch, I like going to the burger joint that is two blocks down, come back to class. We leave at 4pm, so it's a subway ride then the bus. When I get home, I have a coffee and do my homework or study. When supper is ready I eat, then I watch TV for a while, unless I go down to the coffee shop with my friends. I make sure I am home for 10pm and in bed by 11pm. On the weekend..."

I held up a hand and stopped him before he started in describing his weekend routine.
"Does this sound somewhat familiar to everyone?"

Ironically all the males were nodding 'yes' whereas all the females were nodding 'no'.

"Okay, continue with your weekend."

"Well, I usually don't get up until around 10 am, shower, dress and call my mom or sister for breakfast. If, I have studying, I do it until about 1pm, if not I watch TV with my kid brother, he likes the cartoons. My mom makes a sandwich for me and one to take, since I go to work for 2pm to 10pm. I got a job at the hardware store, which closes at 9pm but then I stock shelves and clean up. When I am done, I go home and if my mom is not watching one of her girlie shows, I watch TV for a while, then I go to bed."

Once again, I asked if this sounded like a weekend day and again, the guys nodded 'yes' but the girls nodded 'no'.

"How about one of the ladies sharing their day, your choice of weekday or weekend?"

Michelle offered, "I get up at 5am, every day. I shower, get dressed. At 530 I start the first load of laundry, sometimes there is two or three loads, but there is laundry every day. I don't always get it done in the morning, but it is finished before I go to bed. I usually help get breakfast ready and my mom makes lunches while I do the dishes. We each have to clean our shared room, weekly, but I do the laundry since I am the oldest. Saturdays are sheet changing day, so I have about five loads. It takes me two subways to get here so that's about 45 minutes. I don't go out for lunch because I have my sandwich. When I get home, I start supper and mom gets in about 6pm so we eat, then I get the little ones to help me with the dishes. Some evenings I babysit for the neighbors and some nights I just watch my younger brothers and sister, so mom can have a break. She likes to soak in the tub for a little while. We make sure everyone has gone and done their thing before she goes in so that she has a half an hour. I study when I am babysitting rather than watching TV. Then I go to bed at 10pm."

"How does this sound to the other ladies? Somewhat familiar?"

They all nodded.

"Now, the gentlemen in the room, what do you think of the comparison? Do you notice a trend? Tom, you felt the other day that being a man in this career would be detrimental, what do you see happening to the girls here?"

Tom, was quiet for a few minutes, but he did stand.

"I think we see the girls following in our mother's footsteps. They do the woman's work, that needs to be done around the house. I honestly, never thought about it like that." He literally plopped down into his chair.

I looked around the room and saw smiles on the faces of the girls and a mixture of shock and surprise on the guys.

Andrew raised his hand, he had a sheepish look on his face. "I don't want any of the guys to think that I am a wimp or weird, but I do the dishes all the time and keep my room clean. My mother has been teaching me simple cooking, like scrambled eggs, meatloaf. She thinks every guy should know how to take care of himself, when he leaves home. Simple cooking, simple housework and laundry."


There were several comments of approval from both the guys and the girls. As well as other murmurs that encompassed an hour of time.

"So, how can we change things? How can we make your lives better and those of your families? I want you to consider this tonight and we will continue our discussion tomorrow. And Tom if you would please read chapter 6 & 7."