Honest conversations about the psychology of modern work culture
Work made me a better mother, though no one wanted to hear it. “Don’t you miss them terribly?” The question came from a colleague at a business lunch, her voice thick with judgment. I should have lied, should have manufactured the expected tears of maternal separation. A better mother would have, wouldn’t she? Instead, I …
A young mother sits across from me, dark circles betraying her exhaustion. She absently bounces an invisible baby—a muscle memory from months of soothing her colicky infant. Between halting descriptions of overwhelm and doubt, she asks the question I’ve learned to anticipate: “Do you have children?” The words hang in the air. A familiar tightening …
Brandon’s fork stopped mid-air, his pasta forgotten. His face, usually so animated, had gone completely still. “What do you mean there’s no inheritance?” he asked, voice low, deliberate. The night had started as a celebration. A nice dinner at his favorite Italian restaurant, my upcoming retirement, his job promotion. Light conversation, nothing serious. Then he …
“Do you have children? Are you planning to have any soon?” The interviewer’s voice was casual, like she was asking about my preferred programming language. My pulse quickened. That was the third interview that week where my reproductive plans had somehow become relevant to system architecture. Each time, the question was wrapped in friendliness, tucked …
My midlife crisis arrived without much drama. No sports car, no drastic career shift. Just a slow-burning restlessness that turned everything into a question. Was I fulfilled? Did my life align with what I valued? Would I regret the choices I hadn’t made? My friends were asking the same things. We met for coffee, traded …
In 15 days, my office will collect my badge, disable my login credentials, and distribute the obligatory retirement cake. After 27 years climbing the technical ladder to become a Technical Architect Director, I’m walking away at 52 — decades before the traditional retirement age. My calendar, once packed with system deployments and architecture reviews, will …