Women Can Wait but Men Can't!? 女は待てるが男は待てない！？

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Every year I'm busy from mid to late December because of work, but this year it was so hectic that I had to work on weekends. This means that my husband had to wait and spend time by himself. He's independent and would never complain, but I knew that he put up with that, hoping that I was able to finish work as soon as possible. 

This kind of situation always reminds me of what my high school classroom teacher told me when he was providing me with career guidance. He said many things, but what I remember most is this: "Women can wait but men can't."

We discussed my interests, the right course at university, and women's career development, so obviously he must have been telling me that if a woman (or I?) kept a man waiting, he would go away. I didn't like the teacher at that time without understanding why, but now I see the reason. He lacked one of the essential qualities for a good teacher, i.e., empathy, and he did the worst thing to me that teachers could ever have done, i.e., demotivating students. And I'm pretty sure this isn't unusual in Japan. 

Last week, I told my husband, who was reading while waiting for me, still working, about the teacher and asked him how he felt when he was kept waiting. He said, "Just get it done and let's go for a drink!😆"

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毎年12月後半は忙しいのですが、今年は特に忙しく週末も働いていました。もちろん主人はほったらかしです。自立していて文句など言わない人ですが、それでも私が仕事を終えるのを待っているのが感じられました。

そんな時に思い出したのが、高校の担任が進路相談の際に言った「女は待てるが男は待てない」という言葉です。

具体的にどういう状況だったかは覚えてないのですが、女性の働き方に関することを話していて、要は「待たせていたら男は逃げる」というようなことだったと思います。当時からその先生のことは好きではなかったのですが、今はその理由が見えるようになりました。教師に一番必要な「共感能力」が欠如している、つまり生徒のやる気を失わせます。

先日、本を読みながら私が仕事を終えるのを待っている夫にこのことを話し、どう思うか聞いたら言われました。「ちゃっちゃと終わらせて飲みに行こうぜ😆！」

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