Red Room Where the Writers Are

Rant alert.

I’ve worked some pretty long hours over the years in my job. 80-90 hours a week was not unusual for a very long time and there have been times in our life where, to make ends meet, I have held down 4 jobs at the same time.

The thing is, I have never claimed that I worked harder than Gina (Collia-Suzuki), as she sat at home, working almost every waking moment on her true passion in life that is Japanese art. As we have moved around the country, the town’s may be different, the buildings we have lived in have changed each time of course, but wherever she has been, she is in the same place. She sits there, buried among her books, researching, investigating, delving deeper into her field of expertise than most people could even dream of. Once we got the internet, her hunger for knowledge has reached parts of the world that previously were completely inaccesssable for us and she has proven herself to be a master detective countless times now. Truly amazing.

So why this blog? Well, I suppose a pet-niggle of mine popped back into my head this evening and it made me want to blog about it. I’ve lost count of the number of times people would ask me what Gina does for a living, I tell them that she is an artist and a writer and then they look at me blankly and then say ‘That’s nice, but what’s her real job then?’. I explain how hard she works, how my workload is simple compared to the mammoth task that she has undertaken over the many years that I have known her. The blank looks remain. Apparently I am speaking a different language and they don’t hear a word I say before they nod politely or ask the same question again. I am sure this is a familiar situation for many writers and artists, as well as their partners. This irks me greatly.

This is not my biggest niggle though. My biggest niggle was when a family member would insist on calling Gina, even though I explicitly used to explain how Gina must not be disturbed as she is very busy and needs to keep her focus, and then they phone specifically to ask if she has had time to do the housework or cook while I do my real job which is more tiring than any woman can understand or experience as it is ‘man’s work’! As this is a public forum, I am not going to turn the air blue with the language that goes through my mind every time I think about this. Needless to say, I think it’s ridiculous and I'm glad that we managed to put a stop to it many years ago, although it still niggles me now! LOL!

There, I’ve got it off my chest (again) and thank you for reading my rant. I hope you all have a nice morning, afternoon or evening.

In the way that the wonderful Evie Shockley signs off some of her responses, I’d just like to say ’Peace’. :)