Thomas Phinemann, Contributor
As the cost of food and fuel becomes increasingly prohibitive, women are more demanding, and men more depressed.
It seems that as prices rise, so does the greed displayed by some women. They seem to have an insatiable appetite for things they can't afford and somehow have been trained to extract whatever they want from men at all cost.
Some of us do our best to support our families and put aside enough for the lean times. But this is becoming a tedious task, and we dare not complain lest we be labelled mean and worthless.
Depleted savings
If we want a comfortable night's rest, we had better keep quiet as we watch our savings being depleted, especially as some of us have made bad investments and are now praying that we will be able to recover at least the principal sum that we invested. What makes matters worse, we were perhaps planning to surprise our wives when we reaped the rich rewards from our investment.
It is a great idea to form a support group so that we can at least share our feelings and laugh at ourselves for being in 'the doghouse'. Let's encourage each other and watch for the telltale signs of depression and reach out to each other before it is too late. Bearing in mind that we are more prone to suicide than women, let's be on double watch for each other.
We are more important than money, although some women treat us as if we are nothing more than money machines. Our sole purpose is to churn out the dinero. It is time for us to assert ourselves and not be intimidated by women who call us names when we are not able to finance their greed.
Some of us even believe that our worth is measured by the amount of money that we can provide. We are embarrassed when we earn less money than our partners and some of us are foolish enough to allow our partners to feel that they work for themselves while we work to support the family. We do not want them to spend their money in the home as we are solely responsible to supply their every need.
Swallow our pride
A minority of men don't believe that our women should work, but with the escalation in the cost of living, we'll have to swallow our pride and go back to the drawing board to devise new, productive ways of maintaining our families - even if it means eating our words and ask for help from our women.
With the world in the throes of a food shortage, this is as good a time as any to change our attitude to money. We must not allow ourselves to be dominated by the culture of materialism.
Let us think of ourselves as the wonderful, powerful and intelligent human beings that we are.
Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.