A stressed-out husband recently took to Reddit to ask for opinions after a big fight with his wife over whose job is more important. This is his full story.
He Earns a LOT More Than Her
OP is a 35-year-old man who is married to a 34-year-old woman. They have two children, ages 3 and 5.
OP makes about five times as much as his wife does. Because they live in a very high-cost-of-living city, they rely on OP’s higher income to afford their lifestyle.
The good news for OP is that his job is low stress, requiring about 35 hours per week. He does have on-call responsibilities once a month, though.
About once a quarter, something comes up at his job while OP is on-call that requires him to drop everything. The work emergencies usually take a few hours to resolve.
But She Has a Very Demanding on Call Job
Meanwhile, OP’s wife has a very demanding job, made even tougher by a boss who makes random demands as a power play. OP’s wife regularly works 45-50 hours per week and frequently has to deal with emergencies.
Due to the difference in their work schedules, OP does most household chores and takes care of their children a lot of the time.
One evening recently while OP was on-call, his wife received a high-priority work request from her boss. OP’s wife was annoyed, because she said it could have waited until the next day at work.
But OP’s wife also wanted to get the problem resolved that night so it wasn’t hanging over her head.
Their Work Schedules Conflicted Occasionally
OP agreed to take the kids, but he reminded his wife that he was on-call and might need to switch with her if anything came up at his job.
Sure enough, just a little while later, OP got an urgent call to go into the office. He told his wife he was leaving and that she was back on kid duty, but she had other ideas.
OP’s wife told him that because her issue came up first, he would have to stay home. Someone else would have to handle the new work emergency.
But OP reminded his wife that he didn’t have any choice. When an emergency came up while he was on-call, the only way he could skip was if he was dead or in the hospital.
They Were Both on Call and Had Their Own Emergencies
OP’s wife still insisted that she had to take care of her work situation. She was angry and started crying. But he didn’t have time to argue, so he left and drove to work.
On the way to the office, OP’s wife called him to continue their argument. In the heat of the moment he told her that his job always had to take priority over hers because they relied so heavily on his salary.
That ended the conversation, as OP’s wife hung up on him.
When OP got home three hours later, it was past the kids’ bedtime. He found them asleep on the couch, surrounded by spilled cereal bowls.
She Locked Herself in the Bedroom and Didn’t Feed the Kids
Upstairs, OP’s wife was locked in their bedroom, and wouldn’t talk to him.
The next morning, OP found out that his wife had locked herself away right after he left and hadn’t even bothered to feed the kids. Left to fend for themselves, they had raided the kitchen for cereal.
Now OP feels bad for hurting his wife’s feelings with his remark about their jobs. But he’s also angry that she neglected their children.
Most Reddit commenters side with OP, saying that he had no choice but to pull rank since his salary is so important to the family.
Do You Think She Behaved Like a Hothead?
Many think OP’s wife behaved like a hothead and let the constant stress of her job get to her. They think she overreacted and definitely let her kids down.
Some Redditors suggest that OP and his wife need to go to counseling.
So, what do you think of this story? Did OP go too far by telling his wife that his job is more important?
Or was she out of line for insisting that her work emergency had to come before his job?
And how should OP handle the fact that his wife shut down when her kids needed her?
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The post He Categorically Told His Wife That His Job Is More Important Than Hers, so She Locked Herself in the Bedroom and Failed To Feed the Kids first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
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Source: Reddit