"Don't ever put yourself in a position where you're dependent on a man," I have cautioned many a young girl. It's my standard advice to female students.
It is somewhat dated advice, of course. It was born of another generation, a generation where my mother trapped herself in a marriage with a man who beat her. Her 9 year old son was taking notes. But although it doesn't apply nearly as much to the modern crop of 20-somethings as it did to their parents and grandparents, I still give the advice.
"Don't ever put yourself in a position where you're dependent on a man," I said to Darcy when she was my student.
She laughed at me. "Why in the world would I do that?"
That's my girl.
Times change, and this advice is not the holy nugget of wisdom it once was. Of course, as times change, so do abuses. For the first time in history, men are able to live off their wives' incomes, and we've taken to it like flies to garbage. My life is suddenly replete with bumsbands.
"Don't ever put yourself in a position where a man is dependent on you," I now caution, "And keep your ATM password to yourself."