My second most frustrating moment in last night's debate came just after Mitt Romney referred to discovering "binders full" of qualified women, thanks to his researchers' hard work:
In the sentences which followed, he gloated about one of his goals being a more flexible work environment for women so they could have a corporate job AND be home for 5pm to cook supper for their families.
If I were a woman, I would be demoralized at the decades-old perception requiring me to be in the kitchen to prepare dinner. Or I might be offended at his suggestion that the only way to find women qualified to be in his cabinet was to hunt them down, since - according to Oven Mitt - women with Cabinet qualifications don't seem to know how to send a C.V. to the State of Massachusetts (http://www.mass.gov/portal/jobs-education/find-job/).
But, I'm not a woman. I'm a happily married, working father of two young children. Also, among the two adults in our home, I'm the better cook.
So, instead, I'm offended at the implication that should my wife not be home to prepare supper for the family, we would have no supper.
There are times - at least twice weekly - my wife is working until (gasp!) 7pm. On those days, Oven Mitt, I cook.
Sometimes the children may be with an aunt or grandparent. On those occasions, I prepare supper for everyone ahead of time.
In fact, Oven - if I may call you by your first name - my wife is well-read, intelligent, and computer literate. Should you become President, and require her services as a cabinet member, I guarantee I will be in the kitchen daily by 5pm. Should you ever require her to work until 7pm or later, I promise to leave a plate on the counter for her. In fact, should she be a Senior Cabinet Member (Secretary of State, for instance), I would prefer she remain at the office throughout an international crisis, and not return home until all lives have been saved and the incident completely diffused.
This brings me to my most frustrating part of last night's debate: I'm Canadian and don't get a vote.
