In my house, there are two rabbits who have cages on a linoleum floor. The rabbits' primary source of food is Timothy Hay, which makes a huge mess. In addition, when it gets close to cage cleaning-time, the rabbits kick up small pellets of fecal matter when they are "running laps" in their cages. Long story short: their cages have to be swept in the morning and the evening, or else hay and fecal matter will get tracked into the kitchen.
In general, I feed the rabbits in the morning, and my brother feeds them at night. Whoever feeds the rabbit is responsible for sweeping the floor and using a Clorox wipe on any spot of linoleum that needs it (I won't go off on a tangent about the incontinence of again rabbits). But what happens when one of us is in too much of a rush or too tired to clean the floor? That is one possible source of conflict in our house.
In Sag Harbor, "Even Steven" is what Benji refers to when resolving chores conflicts with Reggie. Whoever used the Soup Pot last has to clean it out. They take turns taking out the garbage, and everything has to be even. One problem arises when their mother neglects to clean out the pot, and by Even Steven logic, neither of them should have to clean it! But logic and hunger prevails, and they end up working together to clean out the plot.
In our house, how we resolve the conflict of someone not sweeping is like so: If the person before you didn't sweep, you don't have to sweep, and they must sweep as soon as they can. As an example, if my brother goes to bed without sweeping and it is a mess in the morning, then he must sweep that morning after I feed the rabbits. If I am in a hurry to get to school and leave hay strewn all over the floor, then I must sweep right when I get home.
A similar problem to Benji and Reggie arises after a long trip when the bunnies are fed for us by a loving grandparent or a helpful neighbor. Unfortunately for my brother Michael John and I, helpful neighbors and loving grandparents neglect to sweep, and leave us with a huge mess when we get home, leaving the next sweeper a lot of work. A similar situation arises if someone forgets to sweep, so the next person doesn't sweep, so the next person doesn't sweep, and in a few days we can't remember whose fault it was in the first place. In these situations, someone (usually me) has to do the grunt work and sweep the damn floor, similar to how Reggie and Benji worked together to clean out maggots. Except not. Now I'm a little angry about this :)
In my family, if one person forgets to do their turn, they must make up their turn, plus an extra turn. This way, even if someone else has to do it in the short term, the long-term feels balanced. Considering that the mother does so much work for Benji and his brother for most of the time, I think that their role in cleaning up the putrid meat is quite reasonable.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting reading so many accounts of splitting chores. When I first read that passage, I thought the pair was being ridiculous with how hard they tried to maintain equality. I still think its ridiculous, its just now with this post and even's comment, I realize the ridiculous is more common.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a sibling? I can relate plenty to Even Steven. This weekend when we were supposed to be doing chores I went to bed with a headache. My brother proceeded to then do no chores because I wasn't doing any either. Now we have to do them tonight
DeleteIts interesting reading so many accounts of splitting chores. When I first read that passage, I thought the pair was being ridiculous with how hard they tried to maintain equality. I still think its ridiculous, its just now with this post and even's comment, I realize the ridiculous is more common.
ReplyDeleteAnd I especially loved reading your comment a second time! This version of your comment was particularly insightful as opposed to the first.
DeleteIt's interesting to read about these Even Steven scenarios--both yours and Benji's. My brother is 8 years younger than I am, so I'm generally responsible for more chores because I'm more able to do the grunt work. As a result, I can't completely empathize with the injustices of Even Steven in the context of work, because my brother is exempt from harder chores. However, whenever my brother and I must share a dessert or rare food we like from my dad's office, Even Steven is applied a full force. I can't see this ever changing, even as we grow beyond our adolescent years.
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