TASK #13: March 31st–April 6th
This college admission scandal just slays me. The actress and her clothes designer husband–I can’t say their names without getting pissed–spent $500,000–yes, five hundred thousand dollars! to get their daughters into USC. I have no beef with the fact that they are rich, and I understand that you want to give your kid every advantage that you can when it comes to getting them into college. Hell, I hired a math tutor for my daughter so she could pull up her SAT number, but that cost only cost about a hundred bucks and, by the way, only pushed her score up by five points…but FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND? And it’s alleged that the actress sent a high-five emoji to the dude who was the ringleader of the scam after her daughter was accepted.
My father never went to college. Even if my grandparents had five hundred grand to grease the wheels, he wouldn’t have gone–he wanted to go to work on the railroad and that’s what he did. He drove down to Youngstown, Ohio on the day he graduated, applied for work with AMTRAK, and went to work for them a couple of days later.
When he wasn’t working he was doing chores. He washed the car, raked the leaves, painted the house, fixed whatever needed fixing, mowed the lawn, shoveled the snow, walked the dog, grew tomatoes, and we weren’t above helping out with the dishes, or vacuuming or even, on rare occasions, making the beds.
Me? I balked at doing anything that didn’t involve a television, a modem or a piece of sports equipment. My dad, of course, wasn’t about to let me waste even a second, so I was more or less forced to help him out around the house.
I not much different as an adult. I don’t like doing chores, and I don’t make any bones about it, much to the displeasure of my wife, who is NOT going to rake the leaves, or mow the lawn, or under any circumstances, push any snow around with a shovel. No way…
Then, a few weeks ago, while hiding in my garage “office”, looking at something on Reddit, I come across this whole dissertation that said, basically, that if you did chores like your dad you would be happier, and healthier. The premise is this: doing household chores yourself, instead of hiring someone to do them, will have unexpected health benefits.
According to a study, people that did the majority of yard work, do-it-yourself projects, and housecleaning, were at a 30% lower risk of experiencing a first-time cardiovascular disease such as a stroke or heart attack as compared to those that were highly sedentary.
Moreover, mowing the lawn has benefits as well. The grassy scent stimulates the mind. The researchers found that freshly cut grass releases certain chemicals which makes the people more joyful and relaxed. Now, mind you, I have never been joyful or relaxed when doing yard work, and it certainly didn’t help my friend Chuckie, who keeled over on his front lawn while pushing a mower and he died of a heart
attack. But putting Chickie aside, who smoked cigars and ate more beef jerky between meals, I thought I’d give it a try–doing chores,
that is.
So I did. Or more succinctly, I have. Over the last few weeks, I have mowed, scraped, raked–why, I even folded some laundry, which didn’t go over too well with my wife, for two reasons: 1) because she thought I was suffering from some sort of chemical imbalance; and 2) because I folded the clothes so poorly that she had to put them back in the dryer.
TASK:
Look around you, gentlemen. There are plenty of chores to do. Take them on, do them right, and feel the joy.
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— The Good Men Project (@GoodMenProject) March 10, 2019
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It’s never too early to start talking about Father’s Day on The Good Men Project. We’re looking for sponsors and contributors for our #ModernDayDad campaign. https://t.co/WJvKqq2kTe pic.twitter.com/j66LNCY0VG
— The Good Men Project (@GoodMenProject) March 11, 2019
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We celebrate Gay Pride all year long. But this year, we’re doing some special programing for a large-scale campaign #LoveEqually. We’re looking for both sponsors and contributors. Check it out! https://t.co/tkraXFPxLL pic.twitter.com/X2FlBEZb8Y
— The Good Men Project (@GoodMenProject) March 11, 2019
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