Carver's title choice "Popular Mechanics" create irony when considering the situation of the short story. The title suggests there is a popular method of doing something. Here, the "something" is arguing. The most common method of arguing, primarily among children, is to claim something as their own and continue in a game of literal or figuartive tug of war until someone surrenders. The fact that here the couple is utilizing the literal form of tug of war hints at their immature behavioral traits. The object which they are arguing over--a baby--only strengthens this case.
"In the near-dark he worked on her fisted fingers with one hand and with the other hand he gripped the screaming baby up under an arm near the shoulder" (Carver).
Carver is critical of society. With the story, he presents a common predicament in the modern world: the deterioration of a marriage and a subsequent custody battle. These types of problems were not prominent a thousand, five hundred, or even one hundred years ago. Still, society is trying to solve these problems in a primitive manner that is inadequate. As an issue matures, so must the method for resolving it
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