World without Women

What would the world look like without women?

   That was the question posed Wednesday on International Women's Day. Women were encouraged to take the day off and march in the streets to raise awareness of what women contribute in today's society.

photo credit: MyTudut Presentation via photopin (license)

For many women this just wasn't possible. Why? Well a few reasons:

1.  Women still make up the majority of the primary caregivers for young children in their homes. (stay at home mom vs dad statistics) 
2. Women make up the majority of primary caregivers for older family members. (Women as caregivers) 
3. As of 2016, women working full time salary positions in the United States earned about 83% of what their male counterparts earned. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

So, in short, they were too responsible and too broke.

   I think we all understand. I posted a shout out to all the women in the workforce (both paid and unpaid) on Facebook and briefly noted that without them there would have been no bus on our school route, only three classes for my daughter to attend at school and our religious education program would have been canceled. I wanted to let the women around me know that I am grateful for all they do.

   Later I wondered, what would my day have looked like on International Women's Day if there had been no women working that Wednesday....
really.

   At my daughter's school there are 67 individuals listed in the school directory. 52 of them are women. Hmmmm. I'm thinking no school at the Jr. High. Taking a quick peek at the district high school there are 78 individuals listed in the directory. Again, 52 of them are women. Okay, probably no school there either. The local day care down the street with the red roof, they used to have like 1 guy working there years ago, but no men showing in their teacher and staff directory at this time. Guess dropping kids off would be out of the question. Well, I suppose the kids are too old anyway.

   With groceries low in the pantry and zero coffee available at home, a quick stop at the grocery store is needed...or perhaps not. Since the staff is predominantly women and there is only one male cashier scheduled to work on Wednesday...and he is under the age of 21. Guess I can't substitute wine for coffee. With the line looping through the store aisles, I look for an alternate coffee source. Afraid it doesn't look much better at the Starbucks. A day without coffee? Yikes! Maybe I would have better luck at McDonalds?  But not likely.


   It appears our favorite local dining spot has a cook, but no one to seat us or take our order. Damn, doesn't look like I will be able to get coffee here either. Perhaps I will just use the machine at our library, but no, the doors are closed. Turns out 15 of the 20 staff are women. E-books anyone?

   I suppose I could get a hair cut and go work out at the YMCA to relieve stress. Oops, salon not open. No exercise classes either, at least not on Wednesdays, you guessed it, all the instructors are women. With the exception of two classes, that seems to be the case for the rest of the week as well. Thank heaven the doctor is in. I hope he is good at reception...and nursing..and referrals...and scheduling.

Perhaps to pass the time, I can read the mail, oh wait, no MALE carrier...

    It appears that my Wednesday will be the day I am carted off to jail for killing someone!

Well, not really, the patrol car in our neighborhood looks empty...