Being a writer is an actual job

One of my pet peeves, something that I have probably have mentioned before, is the simple fact that many people do not consider writing as a real job. This irks me.

My mother never considered it a real profession; in fact, she considers writing to be a sin (that last point I can see--it is a theological issue that I might talk about someday). Of course, this is the same woman who believed me babysitting my brothers and sisters was more important than me passing my Freshman Composition class in High School (I took it twice, but never had the time to write the term paper, hence me being a High School flunk out).

I have noticed a lot of other people do not consider writing to be a real profession. The only reason I started to consider it a real profession was that I was forced to make money doing it (for myself that is, I was always able to consider it a real profession for others as soon as I learned that it was possible to get paid to do it). Which is probably the nicest thing that I can say about the bad economy, it forced me into my real profession. Or what I always to do for a living.

But because people do not consider it a real profession, they have no qualms about interrupting you while you are writing. Take this week for instance, the wife is home on break (she is a substitute teacher) and she has the home remodeling bug. Not bad in itself, but she expects me to drop everything to help her. Some of the things that I am working on have actual deadlines, so I can't just drop everything to remodel the house.

And even if I didn't have deadlines to met (they are not important deadlines, but I do want to finish the work in a timely manner), I won't want to quit writing for a week just to make her happy. I have only so much time before the next semester starts, and I don't want to lose any of it to having to warm back up; if you take a long break from writing, it takes awhile to get back in the flow of things.

I am not sure if the wife is one of those people who does not consider writing a real job, but she sure acts that way. Then again, it could just be that she is self-centered and bossy (yes, I said that). But that is a whole another pet peeve of mine.

Well, I would like to complain some more, or at least slip in some more writing time, but the wife is asking when I am going to come and help her. Oy vey.