Our Private World

Chapter One: Standards

She marched directly to the kitchen cabinet and tossed two mugs onto the counter. Poppy's mornings started in the same way, every single day. First, she woke up at 6 AM, on the dot. She brushed her teeth, checked her dating profiles, and got coffee for her grandmother and herself. Poppy had been in her grandmother Trisha's care for years, ever since she was 7, in fact. Poppy's mother had passed away from sudden kidney failure that progressively got worse as time went on. Poppy missed her mother, but she was always used to being around Trisha. Trisha moved in with Poppy and her mother as soon as Poppy's mom and dad got a divorce. 

Trisha, being the old fashioned person she was, always had some basic 'rules' and guidelines. First off, you have to get married by 23. If you were married by 23, great! Next step: also have a child by the time you were 23. Trisha did give a little bit of slack on that second rule as she knew it could be difficult for a couple to adjust to married life. Trisha had elevated standards for a potential spouse, especially Poppy's future husband. First off, the man had to have a stable job - preferably one in the medical or business fields. This job would have to bring in enough money to support Poppy as she would no longer have to work after becoming a wife. Trisha thought a wife's job was to stay home, have children, and cook and clean for the rest of the family. Back to the life plan - basically, as soon as you had the first child, you were supposed to have a year between the next birth. This means that as soon as your previous child turned 6 months old, it was time to start trying again. 'But what if there isn't enough money to support the family with even just one child?' Poppy would wonder. 'Not to fear,' Trisha would say. 'The husband will just pick up another job, which will make it easier.'

Trisha's standards were completely out of bounds for the modern world. I mean, who really believed that a woman's main purpose is to have children and provide a good home for her husband anymore?

Poppy filled the mugs up with the warm, black liquid and she dropped a spoonful of sugar into her own mug. Trisha didn't think sugar was good in coffee -- it 'wasn't natural', as she would say. 

"Have you found any nice guys yet? Have you checked that dating website yet? You know, you're 22, you're not getting any younger," Trisha barked as she marched down the hallway. Poppy sighed and ignored the questions. She knew that a lecture was certain, even if the answer was what her grandmother wanted to hear. She understood completely - '23 is when the body stops preparing for children', which Poppy knew was completely false. Her best friend, who was 30, had just had her first child without any complications - and she wasn't even married, which was a big, big flaw in Trisha's eyes. Poppy just wished her grandmother would stop with all of the marriage and child talk. If she had a brother, would he be lectured the same way? Poppy's mother never had a second child, which was also a big flaw in Trisha's eyes.

Poppy would find someone sometime, right? Did she really care what her grandmother thought?