Chip Chick
In 2020, this man had a married roommate who he also worked with.
They both worked a 12-hour shift without a break and after work, they went home and were understandably exhausted. This grueling work schedule without being given breaks was typical for them.
Their job was incredibly physical, so after their shift, they were dripping in sweat, had bloody knuckles, had grease all over their clothes and skin, and they desperately wanted to take showers and rest.
When he and his roommate reached home, his roommate’s wife, who is a stay-at-home mother, started venting to them about how much of a struggle it is to care for their 3-year-old during the day. She then said that she wanted to have their job and have them stay at home with the child instead. She told them that they had it so much better than she did.
He is the oldest of six children, and because his parents didn’t take care of any of them, he was the one who took care of all of his younger siblings.
While he doesn’t know what it’s like to deal with the financial stresses of having children, he has a lot of experience with the day-to-day exhaustion of childcare.
Since his roommate’s wife is a stay-at-home parent, she doesn’t have to worry as much about financial stress because her husband provides for their child and for her as well.
“I completely get it. Kids suck. Kids are stressful. But if you know how to handle them and get used to their whining, it’s really not that bad, man. Like, I could understand a single mother with two full-time jobs and four kids. Yeah, that would suck. But she was unemployed with one kid to take care of,” he said.
Later, he and his roommate were drinking, but his roommate’s wife wasn’t. They were pretty drunk, so he was wondering if it was because of this that he got more fed up with his roommate’s wife than he maybe normally would have had he been sober.
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