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Antiwork

I asked my mom on her 60th birthday if she could change anything about her life: “I wish I had worked less so I could see you grow up”

That answer shocked me. My mom was a stereotypical business woman in the 80s and 90s, wearing big shoulder pads and butting heads with the boys in the office. Both she and my dad made great money at the time, and she was the bread winner. She was very serious about her job. Of course having two working parents means I was basically raised by nannies until I was a teenager. My parents would get home from work, exhausted, and I'd really only get to see them on weekends (If they weren't too tired to do anything). So on her 60th birthday recently I asked her to shed some perspective on what she's learned in all her years on Earth. The fact that she regrets being a career woman and would've preferred to raise me herself was an absolute shock. I see a lot of millennial and Gen X women…


That answer shocked me. My mom was a stereotypical business woman in the 80s and 90s, wearing big shoulder pads and butting heads with the boys in the office. Both she and my dad made great money at the time, and she was the bread winner. She was very serious about her job.

Of course having two working parents means I was basically raised by nannies until I was a teenager. My parents would get home from work, exhausted, and I'd really only get to see them on weekends (If they weren't too tired to do anything).

So on her 60th birthday recently I asked her to shed some perspective on what she's learned in all her years on Earth. The fact that she regrets being a career woman and would've preferred to raise me herself was an absolute shock.

I see a lot of millennial and Gen X women following this path with a chip on their shoulders. It's a miserable existence and it's taking a toll on them, but they want to prove themselves.

But then again, it's not like 99.9% of families are able to have only one partner work. Most couples can't even find downtime to have a family, period.

But take it from me: If my mom had this revelation, then you know corporate work is bullshit and unfulfilling.

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