“How did Melissa’s little talk go today?” My wife Sheryl asked, as I placed my bag down on the couch
“How did Melissa’s little talk go today?” My wife Sheryl asked, as I placed my bag down on the couch, “The office has the chance to be part of New Woman’s small-business program, I hear.”“You…heard about that?” I asked, already confused. I had just gotten home, had left work right after we wrapped up. Melissa’s presentation, the offer for us to join - what did she call it? The “Lean In” program? - had hit me blindsided. I was flummoxed trying to come up with reasons to refuse, and she certainly had her mind set on it already. And Sheryl knew about this? I mean, she was friends with some of the older women in the office, but how could my wife have found out about this whole thing so quickly? There was certainly no love loss between her and Melissa, it couldn’t have been h-“Olivia told me,” she stated. “Oh,” I replied, still trying to put the pieces together. “Olivia?” Olivia was a new-ish friend of Sheryl’s. An odd lady, not married…looked great in a one-piece. I didn’t know her very well b-“Yes- you know Olivia works on Maura’s campaign, right?” Sheryl said.“Oh yeah for…the state senate?”“No I keep telling you - for Congress,” she explained, “She’ll be heading to Washington.”“If she wins,” I added, taking off my jacket, laying it over a chair. “Oh I think she’s going to win,” she replied, “the new numbers look really good.”“Hm.”“And all that she said is true, you know. Melissa, that presentation, all those statistics,” she continued, plainly, “It’s so fascinating, isn’t it? To see all these shifts happening in society, finally?” “Uhh…Like what?” I found myself trying to stand up straighter. Weird…Sheryl seemed taller.“Oh, honey, c;mon. Don’t you read the news?” she asked, tolerantly.I really don’t.“The Times - new female editor, by the way - just had a piece on the reverse-wage gap,” she explained, tucking a lock of frosted blond hair behind her ear, “women under age 34 already make more than men of the same age in all major cities in the U.S.” She watched me as she let that sink in. Is that true? I pondered. “Well, uh…good for them?” I offered, ever the sensitive male.“And as more women continue to dominate universities, outperform men at work, snag more managerial positions,” she continued, “this gap is only going to increase.”I felt the pangs of male pride, but didn’t raise my voice. She seemed to know what she was talking about.“They’re calling this reversal in traditional gender roles ‘The Big Flip’” she described, “What’s more, women of ALL ages are expected to not just close the income gap, but reverse it within the next five years.” If I wasn’t mistaken, I heard more eagerness in her voice than I’d guess out of my wife. “In other words, The Big Flip is going to be the new normal…sound familiar?”She smiled.“Hey, you know I, uh…” I attempted. It is true - Sheryl makes more than me. A lot more. The practice pays me a salary, but-She chuckled. “You boys are just more interested in video games and porn than school and success,” she added, “so it’s really just a natural, unavoidable thing.”“Well,” I started, “There’s always ups and downs, trends that come and go…”“I don’t know, honey,” she continued, patiently, “You know what they’ve been saying - ‘The genie is out of her bottle, and it’ll be hard to get her back in.’”For some reason, that brought a chill to my spine; goosebumps prickled. “Well, I’m just not sure this program is best for the long-term health of the practice.” I was trying to remain calm, keeping my voice flat and measured. But I winced inside, hearing the defensiveness in my own voice..Sheryl did a better job, masking her true thoughts and echoing my voice with her own restrained tone. “Well, it’s not all entirely your decision, now, is it honey..?”=============================================Check out the gif-morphing skills of our own @carouselbegins in this one. And many thanks to @womenwilldominate for inspiration/hopefully not getting pissed off by frank plagiarism in the copy. Also, FantasticMrMoose and my other helper elves for general support and editing. -- source link