Starting today, we're completely staffed. We treated the newcomers to lunch and everybody babbled on about babies, husbands, previous jobs, Christmas vacation, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and all that stuff.

One thing we all had in common: we were all women in committed relationships (yeah, sometimes I think we *should* be committed) and the woman is employed full-time, thought often the man is not. Or if he is working, he's not making as much money as the spouse.

I've often wondered how men deal with the phenomenon of being partially employed, unemployed and dependent on someone else financially, or just arm candy for a woman. When it's the other way around, dependent women often have "issues."

I suppose part of the answer lies in personal history: if the man is retired after a full career, or is a writer with a fluctuating income, that is one thing, but being ill and unable to work or too lazy to get off his butt, that's another.

I'm looking forward to your comments.