I was coming back from the pool the other day — yes, I am a member of a pool, no, it is nowhere near as fancy as you are imagining, the place was built in 1960 and consists of a pool and damp toilet area, mostly — and was dropping off my kids and my son’s girlfriend at the house. I was going back out to pick up pizza, and had four leftover beers rattling around my car. I wanted them inside, in the fridge, so I said to my son, “Hey, can you-” and then I stopped, realizing the beers had a zero percent chance of making it into the fridge.
They’d end up on the counter. So I instead asked his girlfriend to put the beers in the fridge. Because she is competent.
And that’s when it dawned on me. If you’re competent, you’re going to be asked to do everything. Which is why my wife ends up doing everything.
Because she’s competent. Because I, like my son, am liable to leave the beers on the counter. Think about it.
Who gets asked to do everything at work? The competent one. Who ends up planning every family vacation? The competent one. Who remembers to schedule the kids’ dentist appointments? You guessed it.
It’s not fair, but it’s life. The more you prove you can handle, the more you’re handed. Take my wife.
She’s a whirlwind of efficiency. Bills paid on time. Birthday gifts bought and wrapped weeks in advance.
Birthdays actually remembered. Me? Please don’t ask me to do anything important. But here’s the kicker, and where I operate: The less competent.
