"Kevin Gowen" <kgowenNOSPAM@myfastmail.com> wrote in message news:<be7f1m$22490$1@ID-105084.news.dfncis.de>...
> John W. wrote:
> > Well, in the case of my sister-in-law she fits into the wanted to work
> > until she had kids category, mainly because from the get go she pretty
> > much figured there wasn't much chance of a career (and she is just as
> > strong willed and determined as my wife, and she would have *liked* a
> > career). This view was solidified after she graduated near the top of
> > her class from a good junior college in Osaka (don't know which one).
> > Her first job was with a nice prestigious bank's Himeji branch. While
> > there was some equality in terms of job, at least at the beginning;
> > there were men categorized exactly the same as her. Yet she HAD to go
> > to work 15 minutes early every morning to get coffee/tea ready, and
> > HAD to make coffee/tea for every meeting of her group, along with the
> > other token ladies on the "career" track. After a year or so it was
> > obvious that this situation wasn't going to change, so she decided to
> > settle down and be a mom. I tell this story because I feel it's a damn
> > shame that Japan lost a very, very, very intelligent, dedicated, and
> > capable member of the work force simply because her company's male
> > employees were incapable of making their own damn tea. Note that this
> > male mindset is the reason that I most likely will never get to
> > permanently live in Japan again, because my wife knows she can succeed
> > faster and more easily in America.
> 
> While this story is unfortunate, the upside is that your nieces/nephews have
> gained a very, very, very intelligent, dedicated, and capable mother.

That's actually how she seems to see things, in part because her
mother, too, was very dedicated to her family and worked (still works)
meaningless jobs in order to pay the bills. I also get the impression
that a role model she's setting up for our niece is my wife.

John W.