Just a girl?

I woke up this morning feeling a bit nauseous and couldn't figure out why. Lucky for me John Tierney was able to pinpoint it-I'm just not cut out for all the striving I've been doing. I'm glad that Tierney let me know that socialization doesn't have anything to do with inequalities between men and women in the workplace; I've been laboring under the mistaken assumption that there was a link between entrenched social norms and adult performance.

Still, for all the executive talents that women have, for all the changes that are happening in the corporate world, there will always be some jobs that women, on average, will not want as badly as men do. Some of the best-paying jobs require crazed competition and the willingness to risk big losses - going broke, never seeing your family and friends, dying young.

I tend not to get myself into situations that require competition-he's got me there. It's funny though-I've always avoided them because of what my family and friends can attest is an obsessive, borderline violent desire to crush my opponents. What would Tierney have to say about my impressive collection of yellow cards(from my decade plus of soccer games) and the long list of people who refuse to play me at Scrabble? Let's go through the things he thinks I'm probably not willing to risk:

Going broke? Already there.
Never seeing my family and friends? I live 1500 miles from my family.
Dying young? Isn't that subclause D of the "writer contract?"

Granted, trying to break into the writing world isn't the same as being a stockbroker, but I'm willing to live in poverty for years, focus on arcane topics hidden outrages-to the detriment of personal relationships, and all for a payoff that's significantly smaller than the ones Johnny boy thinks women are loathe to fight for. Doesn't that make me just as reckless as the boys? I call for equal pay for equal stupidity!