Man wants girlfriend to do more chores while she's prepping for new job, gets a reality check

In any relationship, things get better when household duties are shared equally. So, when a man expressed his wish for his girlfriend to do more chores while on a break from work, it did not go down well with people on the internet. u/Aggravating_Ad_7905 first gave a background on what he and his partner had initially agreed on. "This has nothing to do with money. We split the rent and we share everything 50-50. I am an engineer and my girlfriend works in healthcare," the man wrote.

He then shared that a month ago, his girlfriend's job contract ended and she was unemployed for the time being. "She has already found another job, but she would be able to start two months after her previous job ended, which means in a month from now," the boyfriend explained. According to him, she was living her "best life" during the break. She spent the morning studying for her new job but also read, watched Netflix, went to the gym, ran with her dog, etc. "However, she hasn't started contributing more to the household," the man expressed. 

He then clarified that she continued to cook and clean but expected him to do his share of household work, such as doing the dishes. He added, "She won't pick up my clothes after I have returned." He then shared another instance where he had left a "bunch of mails," but she did not open and check them. When he asked her about it, she said she was not his secretary. "I have been hinting that she should be picking up more chores now that she's unemployed, but she says that she's not my housekeeper. She does more than half of the chores and since my workload has not increased, I should be able to do mine," the man shared.

In his defense, the boyfriend said he would have done his share of chores but was tired from work and expected his girlfriend to step up a bit. However, she made it clear that she was not interested in doing more work and told him that "she didn't go to med school to be a live-in maid, etc." He asked people in the Reddit community if he was wrong in expecting her to do more work when she was unemployed and got a reality check.

u/KDSD628 commented, "And not being fully transparent with the sub. You subtly slipped it in that she went to med school, so I'm going to assume that what's going on is that she just finished her residency and has two months before she starts her first job as an attending (aka a doctor not under the supervision of other doctors). She has undoubtedly been working way harder than you (generally, in the US, residents work 70-90 hours per week), and you even mentioned she's studying up during this period to prepare for the new position. Because spoiler alert: Doctors pretty much always have to study constantly throughout their careers."

u/rastavaray wrote, "Pick up your clothes? Open your mail? Even if she was a stay-at-home mom, those are still things you should do, period." u/dividedsky58 said, "Massively. Massive. She's a resident doctor. Your girlfriend probably works 80-100 hours per week. And you're bitching about her not picking up after you in the very short break she has between two extremely exhausting (physically and mentally) jobs. And it isn't even time off! She's still researching and preparing herself for her new position! She's still working! She's just not paid for it." u/athena2560 commented, "Health workers have been under incredible stress. She deserves her break. If she wasn't keeping up her end of the bargain, that would be one thing, but she doesn't owe you extra work."