Authentic Chick,
Hear this bit. I am living in Guyana and I have one of the best jobs in the world. I do landscaping and bring home even more money than my wife who has one of those desk jobs.
It was not always like this for me. One day my life changed when I contracted a disease that affected the lining of my intestines. I did everything that I could but had to settle to do this job. I have three other guys with me and we have a great thing going. I noted that my children have the same attitude as my wife and this upsets me. If they see me cutting a yard they would pass me straight and would only speak to me when they get into our yard. This is getting to me. How can I cope other than writing to you?
Bartica man, Guyana
Dear Sir,
Thank you for contacting me and sharing your story. I am sure that someone else could be helped somehow.
It is all about perspective. I was in another country the other day and heard two people talking about a “Building Engineer”. I “put in my mouth” and asked what type of job the Engineer was doing and was totally caught by surprise. The Building Engineer was washing windows, scrubbing floors, checking whether the window panes were in tack and so on. Your landscaping jobs are marvelous if I may so!
I am thinking that you have a business name like “Guylandso Landscaping!” Have you registered yet with the Commercial and Intellectual Property Office or a similar office that is responsible for regulating such businesses? If you wish, you can create a limited liability company limited by shares and have your wife and children become shareholders in that same company. I think that in this way, they would see more relevance of your job and connect the dots!
I commend you for doing this and looking after your family. Some men won’t give two hoots about working this way. Respect would come soon. Give the love still to the wife and children.
Ta, Ta …
Authentic Chick!
Reader, if you have another idea of how to help this man or a comment please write one now…
Hi I’m Ms Frederick an experienced writer with lots of life experience and strong research skills. Welcome to my column ‘Authentic Chick’ which is about providing genuine answers to readers in an entertaining, non-judgmental atmosphere. I am a mother of two adult sons, a creative writer, trained teacher, retired diplomat and civil servant! I hold a PhD in Law and prefer to remain as a ghost writer! All answers to your questions will be well researched and the major objective is to offer solutions that are realistic and reliable. I look forward to your responses…don’t be shy!
