heavy.

If there is one thing I don't like about a traditional Italian family it's the sexism. No matter the time and no matter the situation, the men in my family tend to assume that cooking and cleaning are a woman's job.


I got home from school tonight around 7:00pm. My mom picked me up from the subway station. She had picked up some food to cook for supper, since my father had told her he would be warming up some left-overs. With some freshly bought groceries and the few leftovers in the fridge, there would have been enough for all four members of my family.


My mom and I walked in the door to find a table set with two place settings. My dad came down the stairs and said "Me and Domenic (my brother) ate. You guys can cook for yourselves."


Excuse me?


My mom works 13 hour days. My father works for a grocery company. My mom still finds time to cook dinner when she can and my dad who is surrounded by food all day everyday can't even manage to cook for his family? He didn't even come home late.


There has never been a day where my father has come home and my mom or I have said to him, "Cook your own meal." So why did he decide to pull this card, tonight?


Well, he says he had places to go and places to be. Really, though, he was on his way to my aunt's house to have a coffee. Must be nice to wake up, go to work, cook for yourself, and be social. My brother, who  was home just waiting to be fed, said to me, "I don't know why you're so upset about this. All we did was cook for ourselves. It's not as if you didn't eat supper!"


Well, if it weren't for my mom who had generously left work to pick up some food for my entire family to eat, I wouldn't have been eating much tonight.


When I'm home in time for dinner--no matter what I've done that day--I cook for my family. That's what I've been raised to do. I don't complain. I embrace it and I've learned to become really creative in the kitchen. The issue is that lately I've been noticing I'm more selfless than my very own father.


I needed to vent.