An Elephant in the Room

Ok, two posts in one day.

I've been talking a lot about sexism lately. However, after chatting with an old friend today, I think there's another subject that I don't usually think about or deal with much.

When I come home and I talk with my best friend from high school, I remember this "elephant." She's an incredibly bright, lovely, large hearted human being. When things got tough in high school, we always had each other. When things got tough in college, she was the person that I called crying at 2 AM. She was the one who called me crying about her abusive boyfriend. We often have very long periods of time where we don't talk.

But then we meet up, and it's as if no time went by. We laugh, we gossip, and do our usual get together activity. However, there's always been a large elephant in the room about the differences in the levels of education.

Comparatively, I've had a *much* easier time in life. While I've worked many different jobs while in college, I never had any fear about not being able to eat the next day. She's worked two FT jobs, supported a husband who wasn't acting as a partner, had to go to soup kitchens, and had other various life events along that line. She's an incredibly strong woman. I'm lucky to have her.

Today, we were talking about kids. We both really want them. She really wants them now. She's been married almost a year. She's talking about having one within the next year. She's got a steady job, she and her 2nd husband are getting along splendidly, and she's mentally prepared for it. I'm so lost by this concept. I have no time for it. Unless someone decides to speed up the whole nine months into about a week, there's no way this will be happening within the next 5 years. Plus, I want to spend enough time with my kids. We both simultaneously understood and didn't understand each other on these viewpoints.

I'm getting a little lost with where I was going. I suppose I could sum this whole conversation up with the fact that I'm sometimes frustrated with the limitations of the career path I've chosen, but that I am grateful for the education that has allowed me to not experience the same hardships as my BFFH (best friend from home). She's a great person to talk to about this sort of stuff, since she's great at essentially slapping me awake about issues I don't usually think about. Everyone should have someone like my BFFH in their life.