A few months ago, when I was picking up the children at school,
another mother I knew well rushed up to me. Emily was fuming with
indignation. "Do you know what you and I are?" she demanded. Before I
could answer, and I didn't really have one handy - she blurted out the
reason for her question. It seemed she had just returned from renewing
her driver's license at the County Clerk's office. Asked by the woman
recorder to state her "occupation," Emily had hesitated, uncertain how
to classify herself. "What I mean is," explained the recorder, "Do you
have a job, or are you just a ......?" "Of course I have a job,"
snapped Emily. "I'm a mother."

"We don't list 'mother' as an occupation...'housewife'
covers it," said the recorder emphatically. I forgot all about her
story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time
at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised,
efficient, and possessed of a high-sounding title, like "Official
Interrogator" or "Town Registrar." "And what is your occupation?" she
probed. What made me say it, I do not know. The words simply popped
out. "I'm....a Research Associate in the field of Child Development
and Human Relations." The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in
midair, and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated
the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words. Then I
stared with wonder as my pompous pronouncement was written in bold,
black ink on the official questionnaire. "Might I ask," said the
clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?"

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply,
"I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn't ?) in
the laboratory and in the field (normally I would have said indoors
and out). I'm working for my Masters (the whole darned family) and
already have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one
of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?)
and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is
more challenging than most run-of- the-mill careers and the rewards
are in satisfaction rather than just money."

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she
completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.
As I drove into our driveway buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I
was greeted by my lab assistants---age 13, 7, and 3. And upstairs, I
could hear our new experimental model (six months) in the child-
development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt
triumphant. I had scored a beat on bureaucracy. And I had gone down
on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable
to mankind than "just another ......" Home...what a glorious career.
Especially when there's a title on the door.