Recently, I read about an article that involved a comparison between men and women doctors. The results of this survey indicated that female doctors still did the lion’s share of household chores back at home: They did the most cleaning, cooking and taking care of the kids.
I thought – wow. You can’t buy a break. These women were physicians and they were still working longer hours at home than their partners. Sometimes it seems you can never win.
I do not know how that statistic breaks down for women in the following professions, but here are five unusual jobs for Moms. Certainly, these jobs are usually associated with the Dads of the family. But that doesn’t stop some brave Moms from giving them a try.
My Mother, the Truck Driver
“My mother, the truck driver,” isn’t even a new idea. The Bangor Daily News ran an article in 1978 about a woman, who was a coast -to-coast driver and a mother at the same time.
Do you know how you can spot a truck driver from about a hundred yards, because his clothes are worn slick, his hat is grimy (and often sports a crude joke) and the beer gut is hanging over the belt? Well, not so with Linda Jean Jernigan of Huntsville, Ala. Pictures show that Jernigan in 1978 had a 150 watt smile, a slender and fetching figure and charming face with big eyes.
Your first thought might be, model or successful businesswoman. She might run a big not-for-profit. She might be a therapist or a Congresswoman.
None of the above. But even as Jernigan hit the road, she was still a kind of stay-at-home Mom, as well, because her husband also drove a big rig and the couple simply packed up their children with them and drove across the country together.
My Mother, the Miner
British writer Alan Bennett says his whole family was made up of miners and that included brothers, uncles, Dad, himself and his mother.
But female miners are not so unusual. Since 1993, in the United States, there has been a Women’s Mining Coalition, a lobby group in Washington that works to communicate relevant issues with federal lawmakers.
My Mother, the Bush Pilot
Where do you find a bush pilot? In Africa, perhaps. Also in Alaska, where roads are often non-existent. There is, basically, a road system that can get you to the Gulf of Alaska and up to Fairbanks and from there over to Canada. But there is no road, essentially, connecting the capital of the state, Juneau, to the largest state in the country.
Just head right to YouTube and see for yourself. Unless you simply come across a female of parenting ages who volunteers the information you aren’t likely to stumble across a female bush pilot “in the wild.” A decade or so ago, you could have simply hung out in the local pilot supply shops (think Napa but for planes). Today, though, most pilots choose to order supplies online. You’ll have more luck simply asking around or trying your hand at the local mechanic’s shop. The person who fixes the planes will undoubtedly know who flies the planes.
My Mother, the Fisherwoman
One would think that various cultures have many female fisherwomen; after all, women fixing nets for their fishermen husbands is hardly anything new. So, there must be many female fisherwomen. Yes?
Well, not really. It’s still a tough assignment dominated by men. As such, even fisherwoman Rebecca Namayanja in Uganda said she suffered from discrimination. Police, she said, confiscated her nets because men complained they were illegal, as they were used to catch smaller, younger fish.
“I soon realized this was a silent game intended to push me out of business,” Panos London quoted her as saying.
My Mother, the Horse Exerciser
Do you know how much a fancy horse is worth these days? Just pick a number. The answer is: Plenty. In fact, pampered horses have been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. And the money for someone paid to take Blinky out for a ride around the old dressage arena can get paid plenty for her skills. One Web site says a good horse exerciser working for a moneyed operation can make $50,000 or more per year.
