The Rosie Effect

Gene arrives, shakes Don’s hand, and congratulates Rosie on her pregnancy. George’s band practices upstairs, and Don advises Gene to make a spreadsheet of his marriage’s pros and cons. In turn, Gene advises him to tell Rosie that he is excited to be a father. Don does so, thinking, “I was using the word excited in the sense that I would use it to say an electron was excited: activated rather than in a particular emotional state” (71). He feels the need to create a schedule to deal with his new concerns, so he uses his bathroom-office walls as a whiteboard. Meanwhile, the dean recommends that Rosie defer entering the medical program due to her pregnancy, which she resists. The dean also suggests hiring a PhD student to help Don and Gene with their research. Gene suggests that Don prepare for fatherhood by observing children.

Rosie sends Don out late at night to find smoked mackerel to satisfy a pregnancy craving; she is asleep by the time he returns. He takes a day off to research nutrition and then goes to a playground to watch children. Two policemen approach Don as he is recording children, and point out that it is illegal to be present at a New York playground when not supervising a child.