第9章 Not "Just A Mom"

Anonymous

A woman named Emily renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's office was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.She hesitated,uncertain how to classify herself.

"What I mean is,"explained the recorder,"do you have a job,or are you just a……"

"Of course I have a job,"snapped Emily,"I'm a mother."

"We don't list‘mother’as an occupation……‘Housewife’covers it,"said the recorder emphatically.

I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation,this time at our own Town Hall.The Clerk was obviously a career woman,poised,efficient and possessed of a high sounding title like,"Official Interrogator"or"Town Registrar"."What is your occupation?"she probed.

What made me say it;I do not know……The words simply poppedout."I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations."

The clerk paused,ballpoint pen frozen in midair,and looked up as though she had not heard right.

I repeated the title slowly,emphasizing the most significant words.Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written in bold,black ink on the official questionnaire.

"Might I ask,"said the clerk with new interest,"just what you do in your field?"

Coolly,without any trace of fluster in my voice,I heard myself reply,"I have a continuing program of research,(what mother doesn't),in the laboratory and in the field,(normally I would have said indoors and out).I'm working for my Masters,(the whole darned family),and already have four credits,(all daughters).Of course,the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities,(any mother care to disagree?)and I often work 14 hours a day,(24 is more like it).But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money."

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form,stood up,and personally ushered me to the door.

As I drove into our driveway,buoyed up by my glamorous new career,I was greeted by my lab assistants-ages 13,7 and 3.Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model,(a 6 month old baby),in the child-development program,testing out a new vocal pattern.

I felt triumphant!I had scored a beat on bureaucracy!And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than"just another mother."

Motherhood……What a glorious career!Especially when there's a title on the door.

Does this make grandmothers"Senior Research Associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations"and great grandmothers"Executive Senior Research Associates"?I think so!

I also think it makes Aunts"Associate Research Assistants".

“母亲”的含义

佚名

一位叫埃米莉的女人在县秘书办公室办理驾照更新手续时，女记录员问她的职业，她迟疑了一下，不知该如何将自己归类。

“我是问你是否有工作，”记录员解释道，“或者，你只是一名……”

“我当然有工作，”埃米莉立即答道，“我是一位母亲。”

“我们这里是不把‘母亲’当成一个职业……充其量称之为‘家庭主妇’。”那名记录员强调道。

我几乎忘记了这个女人的故事，直到自己在市政厅遇到了类似的情况，才回想起来。很显然，办事员是一个职业女性，自信、干练，并有着一个酷似“审讯长官”或“市厅登记员”之类的冠冕堂皇的头衔。“你的职业？”她查问道。

我该怎么说呢，确切的我也不知道……我脱口而出：“我是儿童成长和人类关系研究员。”

办事员顿住了，拿着圆珠笔的手停在半空中。她抬头看着我，似乎没听清我说的话。

我一字一顿地重复了一遍，说到关键词时还把语气加重。然后，我惊讶地看着自己的回答被她用粗黑的笔写在记录本上。

“请问，”她很感兴趣地问道，“您在这个领域具体做什么？”

我很沉着，言语中没有一丝惊慌，“我有一个持续的研究项目（每位母亲都这样），项目的研究地点包括实验室和活动现场（通常我会称其为室内和室外）。我正在努力攻读学位（是指我们的整个家庭），并且已经获得了四项成就（全都是女儿）。当然，我所从事的是人类要求最高的工作之一（没有哪位母亲会反对我的说法吧），我通常每天工作14个小时（确切地说应该是24个小时）。但这项工作比起任何普通的工作来说更具有挑战性，而它带来的回报远不止是金钱，更多的是一种满足感。”

办事员填好表格后，站起身，亲自把我送到门口，言语中不时地流露出敬意。

我把车停到自家车道，想起自己那响当当的新头衔，不禁有些飘飘然。我的实验室助手正等着我，她们年纪都不大，分别为13岁、7岁和3岁。楼上，我们新的实验对象（6个月大的婴儿）正放开嗓门儿，进行着儿童成长项目中新的声音模式测试。

一时间，我兴奋不已，要知道，自己在反击官僚作风上取得了绝对性的胜利！而今，竟成了市政厅记录上对于人类卓尔不凡、不可或缺的人物，而不仅仅是一位母亲。

母亲……多么光荣的职业啊！尤其是现在，这个职业已被光荣载入了市政府记录。

从这一点看来，奶奶和姥姥是“资深儿童成长和人类关系研究员”，而曾祖母不就是“常务高级研究员”了吗？至少我认为如此！

我想，阿姨们也就成“助理研究员”了。

感悟母亲是最神圣的职业，母亲是最伟大的生命守护神。