One Life Stand

Women, Black women in particular, frequently complain about how a "good man" is hard to find.  Then someone, usually but not always a man, accuses the women of overlooking the blue collar brothers.  So what do you do when you’ve found yourself a good blue collar brother and everyone gives you flack?

I was talking to an acquaintance on Saturday and she asked what was hubby’s profession.  She said she asked because her family gives her a hard time about the fact that her BF doesn’t have a professional job and was wondering if I had the same problem.  She has a master’s degree and is headed to med school soon.  She said her BF has a degree  but has a blue collar job (she didn’t specify what it was) and that everyone is critical of her choice of mate.  She said her parents have come around now that they know him better but the rest of the family is not so open-minded.  They continually suggest that she dump him and get back with her ex (who had a white collar job but treated her like crap).

I told her that the situation must be hard on her but as long as she’s happy and has her parents’ support, not to worry about the others.  While family wants what (they think) is best for you, sometimes the best comes in an unusual package.  A great example of that is her cousin (which is how I know her).  Everyone (I’ll admit, myself included) was a bit skeptical when she decided to marry a guy who was a few years younger than her and had no degree and no real career path at the time.  At the time, she was a corporate attorney making big bucks and owned her own place.  BUT…now that we’ve all gotten a chance to know her husband and see how they interact as well as how he is with their daughter…I honestly think he is the PERFECT guy for her.

Have any of you had a similar problem?  What advice would you give my acquaintance?