Conversation

[constance]

I went over to my parents' house this afternoon after work because my mother had made chicken piccata and wanted to give the leftovers to me (my father not being the sort to eat leftovers uncomplainingly). I told them about The Toilet Fiasco:

Dad (annoyed): So I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.

Me: If you mean coming over to my house to put in a new toilet tank, you don't have to. I'll pick up the tank on the way home tonight and do it myself.

Dad: You can't do it yourself!

Me: Why not?

Mom: Yeah, why not?

I wasn't being all assertive and feminist when I asked why not (it rarely does much good to be all assertive and feminist with my father). I just didn't see why, after looking at how everything was put together while I was cleaning up this morning, doing the job myself was likely to be a job I couldn't do. It seemed simple enough to me.

And it was, too. Tonight I came home and did exactly what I told my father I was going to do, and now I have a working toilet again, and my father doesn't have to come over, and I don't have to listen to him bitch about having to do everything for me, and everybody wins.

Everybody seems to think that it's such a big deal, though -- not just my father. I wonder if it really is a big deal and I only succeeded because I didn't know enough to be intimidated, or if the world just thinks I am less capable than I really am. I may never learn the answer to this question, and I guess in the meantime I will continue to fumble and crash my way through all aspects of life, occasionally able to clean up the messes I make, good and proper.

:::

The chicken piccata, by the way, was excellent.

Comments

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

Well, it just looks like a big job to me because I have never looked at how it would be done. Do you have to seal it? How would you seal it if you have to? Is the tank heavy? Do you have to hold it up while doing something else at the same time? I'm not even sure how to turn off the water at my house.

Maybe it's not that it's a big job so much as that people like me don't like to do any "handy" type jobs at all. : )

So, it turned out to be the right size? Excellent. : )

[venivincere]

It's an equal measure of genius and can-do spirit. You just don't let the little things quell you. :-D

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

Oh, hurrah for your pioneering spirit! I ran and told the spouse about your fix-it prowess, and he's deeply impressed. I think toilets, or any project involving plumbing, intimidate many people to the point where they don't even want to take a deep breath, look at where the bolts go, and form a step-by-step plan.

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

Holy wow! It seems like a big deal to ME. I am, like, awed.

Do you realize that your father is crushed, that his biggest joy in life is doing manly things for his daughter and then complaining about it? It's a 'swagger' thing. :D

Congratulations for doing something that bends my mind!

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

What imkalena said. I'm impressed! But not because I don't think you can do it - just that I am amazed anyone without, you know, lots of background in Toilet Engineering, can do it.

[submarine.livejournal.com]

But... you're just a girl!

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

I once assembled a BBQ by myself. I did ring my dad three times while I was doing it - but I still took the credit.

Anyway, go you!

[kickthebeat.livejournal.com]

oh, dads. i must say, this is very, very impressive! now i too will know, on the off-chance the roommate and i ever need to replace a toilet tank, that is definitely doable by girls. though she is way more handy than i will ever be; she would just say, OF COURSE WE CAN DO IT, and then ... do it.