I am the wife of an Australian trucker (over here, "truckie")

by Wendy
(Darwin, Australia)

What you ladies say is all so relevant to we long suffering wives in Australia. Very long distances (I drive road trains too, although not so much these days)Road trains are 53 metres long, and operate up in the remote areas (which means most of Australia!)

Trips away for them can be a few days or weeks.
They obviously are hooked on their jobs and the life is amazing, but very, very tough.
We have "over the top" regulation and some pretty vicious police and Transport officers out on the roads.

Truckies here are viewed with distaste by the vast majority of the public (I find this infuriating, because "Without trucks, Australia stops"

As a wife, it is tough, and easy to lose it, when they come home, finally, all they want to do is flop into the chair, sleep and watch motor racing.
What do you do when you need your man to help with household/building problems that only a man can fix?

Lots of promises but never any action.......
My way of coping is to "get on with it, but I now put myself first.....what I want to do, I do, I simply hire people to do the job I know my husband could do (he is an ex builder by trade) and he has to pay.

This doesn't seem to make any difference either.

So, my American sisters, we are all in this together and quite frankly, I can't see a resolution.
"Take it or leave it" as they say.
I am in the middle of making just this decision.

Cheers and best wishes to you all.