Guys and gals

Boys are different than girls. Vivi la difference!

Well maybe the Olympic Committee that oversees the sport of boxing doesn’t understand. Why in the world would they let two men(?) biological males that self-identify as female compete on the world stage of boxing? The women who have earned the right to go against them haven’t done well and it looks at the moment that both of the transvestites will be in the medal winner’s circle. Sad but then the games are held in Paris and somehow the French have to be different. Still to my eyes their portrayal of the Last Supper was just sick.

Yes, Grannie Annie and I have enjoyed watching gymnastics, especially the ladies, on our big screen TV. This old guy did not participate in gymnastics while in school but of course I had college friends that did. I have always admired the strength and training that is required just to compete and to do it on the Olympic stage is almost unbelievable. To have our USA team come out with the gold medal makes us all proud.

Looking at the Olympic controversy over sex roles brings back memories of what has changed over my own long life. In the household of my youth it was always our mom that went to the grocery store and did the cooking for the family. That seemed normal and natural and it seemed that all our neighbors did life about the same way. As a young boy I would sometimes tag along as mom grocery shopped for her menu and it was rare to see a grown man shopping alongside his wife or by himself. Now adays Grannie and I seem to buy once a week and usually we do it on Sunday after church and call it our “Walmart Date!” Over the years I have noticed that a lot of men, like me, are now pushing the grocery carts. It seems to have become a family thing.

Speaking of groceries on this week’s date we just happened to check out behind a young Hispanic family, a man, his wife and cute little girl. Two carts full the bill came to over $500 and they paid in cash. I mentioned to the lady that it is a good thing that her husband has a good paying job and in her broken English she agreed. Inflation is affecting us all!

Back to the man verses woman thing. As you most know I was raised on a farm. For my dad it was the man’s role to operate the machinery and do the mechanical work to keep things running. My mom’s role was to do chores, raise chickens, milk the cows, and do the garden but she also spent hours on the tractor when needed.

Dad worked in the shop and wasn’t real neat in his approach to things. On rare occasions mom would go into his shop, sweep out the dirt and reorganize. Oh that would cause an uproar because then dad couldn’t find his tools and be upset. On the other hand, I never saw my dad with broom in hand cleaning house as that was “woman’s work.”

Now understand that the household in which Grannie Annie grew up operated totally different from that of my youth. In Ann’s house her mother seldom ventured out of the kitchen but did all the laundry and kept the house spotlessly clean. She also kept a garden to supply homegrown vegetables. She very rarely drove their automobile.

My aunt, my dad’s older sister, ran a completely different household. My aunt had a dominant personality and married a “Casper Milquetoast” gentleman to live with her.

During WWII the uncle refused to carry a weapon but signed on to the conscientious objector program. There he served by carrying hospital bedpans and other such jobs. Married they owned a car but it was always my aunt that drove it. All household decisions were made by my aunt and it was only her that corrected their two daughters. Late in life the uncle evidently had enough and separated from my aunt but that is another story.

I guess that the point of my story is that for each married couple the way that they work out each of their duties in life is just fine. Our Lord didn’t assign men’s duties or women’s duties, we each have to work out what is best in our relationships. If it is done with love for each other, as Jusus instructed, things will work out okay no matter the circumstance.

It looks to be a busy few weeks in our community. Fellow columnist Ronda Graff in her last Thursday column has outlined it well for us. Then school will be starting and those families with children will be heading in different directions.

Grannie and I will be watching our granddaughter with her five young sons the three eldest attending three different schools and the youngest, the twins still at home.

It is a good thing that God only gives children to young parents as we old ones couldn’t keep up.

That is the way I saw it.

Dick Trail