Being a Domesticated Bachelor

Last night after returning home I realized that I absolutely had to do a load of laundry after I saw that I didn't have quite as many clean shirts as I thought. Now for some bachelor's that could have posed a major dilemma and would have been grounds enough to call in sick the next morning. However, being a domesticated bachelor, I handled the problem in a fairly decent manner and ended up doing quite well.

What is a domesticated bachelor you ask? Well, it's a term of my own design and creation (or so I believe) and it has to do with the type of bachelor lifestyle that I, and a growing number of other bachelors, have come to adapt to. Previously, most bachelors fell into a set of stereotypes that have persisted to this day. Some of these stereotypes include: leaving clothes lying around the house, allowing dishes to pile up in the kitchen, not doing the laundry thus requiring shirts to be turned inside-out on a semi-regular basis, storing nothing but beer and pizza in the fridge.

This month marks three years since I moved out on my own and have been living without any of the support structures (i.e. Mom and Dad) which I had previously had. However, in all that time some of those lessons that are instilled by most parents, namely cleanliness, were ingrained into my psyche and I realized that having grown up in that environment that I couldn't leave that lifestyle so easily. Now what do you do when you're the only one in the house? You take on the responsibility yourself.

It can be a trying experience the first time you attempt to wash a load of laundry, wash the dishes and put the in the dishwasher, or cook something more than a microwavable meal, but it is a true feeling of triumph when you can do it. There are subtle added bonuses to being a domesticated bachelor as well. There is a hint of appeal in it. Girls seem to sense that you are the sort of guy who will pitch in and help around the house, not just generate a mess. Someone who will lend a hand rather than conveniently disappear.

A number of guys I know fit into that category. They are married now and have reverted back to living with their mothers. They expect to be cared for in the same manner and eventually begin taking for granted the work that their wives do. It's a sad state of affairs but one that seems very slow to go away. Fortunately, I have not been raised that way and I see the benefits of having these domestic skills.

I can go to a grocery store and pick up precisely what grocery is needed, I can clean my clothes in addition to my car, I can cook something beyond cereal, I can do a lot of the things that define me as an independent male. And as such, I think I'm a better person for it.