Editor’s Note: This is going to be a deparure from normal size related stuff. I guess I just need to vent a bit.

Earlier today, I was talking to a female friend of mine and I was told that I have habits of an “old woman” when it comes to what we called in the 80’s as home economics. This made me a bit unnerved to say the least. But the more I thought about it the funnier it seemed.

First of all, as anyone that ever lived with me can tell you, household cleaning and chores was never a priority or for that matter a necessity. I am by nature a messy person and I generally do not care. As of late, that has changed a bit and I have found myself amassing the skills that I was taught and observed over my lifetime.
Second, I don’t think that knowing or displaying household management skills is a gender issue. It may have been 75 years ago, but in this age, with the large amount of single households or even single parent households, I think these skills are vital in getting through the week.
And thirdly, I think in our fast paced, fast food, low tolerance for anything that takes time life, we are losing a lot of these skills and simply do whatever is more convenient.
For example, the issue that came up today. My friends daughter had a hooded sweat jacket in which the drawstring got pulled out so that it only came out of one side. My friend was ready to donate this jacket to a clothing drive (which I by no means think is a bad idea if it didn’t fit). But she had only bought it a month ago. To me, that is waste. She thought she would have to pay more to fix it than to get a new one. My solution was to use a safety pin and coax the string out of the other side so both end of the drawstring were available. It took 3 minutes and saved $30. I was called and old woman for my efforts. This was in jest of course, and it was appreciated, but it wasn’t the first time I had a household skill mocked as “un-genderly”
I learned a few things from my mom, like how to iron and sew. I still suck at both. I learned a lot from an ex-roommate and best friend for life named Randy. He taught me how to housekeep “Texas style”

Here are a few things Randy taught me:
Always stack dishes, cups, etc upside down in the cabinets. You do this for two reasons; to keep dust from getting on them and to prevent bugs from going across them. In the college house we lived in, this was absolutely necessary.
Hanging clothes in the bathroom while you take a hot shower helps remove wrinkles.
When ironing, use heavy starch on the collars, around the buttons and (if long sleeved) cuffs of a shirt. Just use water on the rest and iron it out.
Throw leftovers out after 3 days (I grew up in a house of 7, so leftovers were rarely an issue).
How to use a dishwasher. I never had one until I lived with Randy and of course, I tried to use regular dish soap in it. The quote from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory came to mind “Bubbles, bubbles everywhere, but not a drop to drink.”
Vinegar cleans a lot of stuff.
Bleach is great for cleaning glass jars (we used to make Sun Tea, which he also taught me).

I learned a lot more as life went on. For instance, you should store batteries no in use in the freezer to keep them fresh. Putting a cap full of olive oil (or any vegetable oil) in a pot of boiling water will keep pasta from sticking. Drier sheets can be used twice. Once they have been used in the drier, you can wash them with the next load and the softener is still viable. The value of double stick Velcro in keeping up with remote controls. And much, much more.
I never saw any of these as a “gender” role, but as keys to keep everything working smoothly. So I guess if I live like an “old woman” then people ought to get used to it, because I am not going to change.