GlossyVeneer

This past summer our neighbors put in a block wall between our houses. (One of the CC&R’s in our neighborhood requires that all fencing be made out of concrete blocks. Very very pricey fencing….) To install the fence, the contractor had to dig a trench along the property line and pour the footings for the wall. In doing this they ripped up all of the decorative rock that we had put down on that side of the yard and then reburied it. So we were in need of some new decorative rock, but I’d rather spend $30 to replace some rock than $3000 for the fence.

This past Saturday was a nice day, so we finally went and bought a truckload of rock to fill in the area by the fence. My dad and Kevin were spreading the rock around with the only two shovels that we had. I was about to go into the garage and find the hoe to push rock around when the couple across the street came out of their house and called me over to talk to them.

The couple across the street is in their 80′s. They’re funny because they always talk about how they’re so old, they could die at any moment. If something takes a long time, they could die before it happens. If it has been really cold outside for several days in a row, they could die before it gets warm again. They make me laugh.

Anyway, I went across the street and they asked how we were doing. Then the wife said to her husband, “Don’t we have an extra shovel? We could lend them a shovel.” The husband looked at her and said, “Yes, I have another shovel, but I’m not giving it to her. Women don’t need to be doing labor like that.”

Then the wife was asking how Kevin’s schooling was going and what his plans were for after graduation. I told her that he has a job lined up and we would be moving to Vegas in the summer. Her response? “That’s so wonderful. Now maybe you won’t have to work and you can stay home.”

Sometimes remarks like these make me angry. But since they are from such a different generation, I just ignored the comments. And while I have every intention to keep working when we move to Vegas (I will be telecommuting), I think I may take them up on the idea that women shouldn’t have to use a shovel. Especially if it is a snow shovel.

Weather Check: 37�
Song Playing Now: A horrible singer on American Idol who works at the Venetian front desk in my future home city. I hope I don’t live by him!