There I am. That's me. Sitting on the bench.. looking at my kids playing..
And there she is..another mom.. sitting on another bench... looking at her kids playing..
"So, what are you thinking hmmm?" she mutters.
I gaze at her face and say "I am thinking what should I be thinking about next.."
She does not think I am crazy.
She gets it.
"Me too" she says..
And we both gaze at each other waiting to see who goes first because once it starts it's going to be like two trains speedily heading towards the same exact destination which is called "work life balance" in the corporate world. The world once we were part of.
I happen to think "work life balance" is a really fashionable word used in the offices by people. Like it's a fashion amongst kids to walk their pets. When time comes to clean the "you know what", it's suddenly someone else's responsibility.
I go to grocery stores. I go to parks. I go to doctor appointments. I go to parties(to drop off and pick up that is...I got you there.. didn't I?) . I go to school events. I meet moms. And I get it. I get that we are all in the same ship. We have a very busy morning, followed by a downtime of few hours and then a very busy evening. Either that or we have a very busy morning, then a commute, a good fulfilling career (mostly) and then again very short but chaotic time with kids before they go to bed. I have now experienced both sides. And I certainly think if we all put our minds together, may be in a couple of decades, picture will change..very convincing...I know...
The other day someone told me "moms are more suitable for the operational jobs" and let's just say I do not want to tell you what happened next. Just which part of a mom's work is "operational" ? None of it.. if moms can handle all what they are doing then they can handle any unknown and stressful situation at work even if they have little to no domain knowledge. Talk about patience at work place. They got it. Talk about stress. Should I even start? Talk about being creative. We got it!! Talk about being fearless and bold..hell ya! Talk about hard work, Roger that!!! Talk about being a good listener..I see all fingers pointing at us!! Talk about being good at talking? Drum roll please!! Talk about being fast learnens? Oh yeah! We are so fast, so fast, we become just from being g "just us" to "us and kid and diapers and homework and dishes and fight resolving machines and most loving mentors" in a matter of seconds! So, I don't see anything operational in what we do! We would kill (no pun) any project if we put our mind to it!
That's only if we use our most productive hours and marry them with our passion and our thirst to learn and achieve and our tenacity to take things to the end no matter what the outcome is. All we need is to find the right opportunity.
Corporate world, do you have jobs for this hidden talent? Do you have opportunities for this amazing work force waiting to jump in and prove that they matter, they can make a difference and not at the cost of loosing their valuable time with their family..
