So besides raids and good will missions, we also do Force Protection (ForcePro). While on ForcePro, I get the honor of spending 4 hours in a guard tower for two days, and I also get to stand in the tower where I get to observe everyday Iraqi's doing their thing. We have the typical kids playing around, the older ones get herded to school, and a couple of old timers who sit outside and do absolutely nothing, sort of like what some old timers do at home.
Well I also observed that the Iraqi women do almost everything. A woman will go out and put the rug and pillows out for the old timers, and throughout the day will bring tea and food to them. I also observe that the women heard the cows to the corn field every morning, and bring them back in the evening. Women are the ones who are constantly washing and scrubbing the driveway and sidewalk in front of their house. Since their sewer system is almost non-existent, trash accumulates on the streets, and the women go out every couple of days and sweep that up too. They also do all the cooking and cleaning, and wash the car. Today I observed five women walk out almost a mile to a bunch of reeds, cut a shit load down, and carry them back to the house. Mind you the husband was home and he had a vehicle.
What I see the men do is....... NOTHING. Well, I take that back. They do have store owners who like to sit in front of their stores with other guys, drink tea, smoke and shoot the shit, and when someone comes to the store, they reluctantly get up to help them. There are also some workers out there, but not many.
Long story short, the women do almost all the shit work and the men pretty much chill. So when you women want to complain about the corporate glass ceiling, remember, it was not long ago when what I typed described the life of an American women. We have truly come a long way baby!
You are not logged in, so your subscription status for this entry is unknown. You can login or register here.
Arty, 2nd Cav Vet