My husband is always clean, well dressed and likes the rooms of our home to look tidy. I often find him neatening up throw blankets on the couch. I tell you this, so you don’t get the wrong idea about the problem. When he peppers his food, he doesn’t seem to understand the basic, and to me so obvious it need not even be learned, concept that the pepper is to be ground within the boundaries of the circumference of the plate. So, if some food, maybe the outer edge of a scrambled egg, happened to be right up next to the edge of plate, you would have to accept that bite of food not being peppered. Well, that’s not how he sees it.
To achieve a robust and even peppering, it’s okay with him that pepper goes all over the table. I’ve called his attention to this, but it hasn’t changed anything. He values peppering food above all other concerns. Though I really like a neat table, I also really like him. He is so peculiar!
He did this illustration for me. Thank you, Hon!
On another note, Sidewalk Face prints will be back for sale very soon! I am going to be offering them as ready to hang on the wall, glass-less “standouts” (the merchandise nomenclature). Stay tuned!
I can’t stop thinking about a recent serendipity. At a red light I turned to the car on my left and made eye contact with a young boy in a car seat, maybe 6 years old. Without thought, I smiled and waved at him. He broke into a big grin and waved back. It was awesome. A few stop lights later it happened again, both of our faces lit up at the unexpected display of friendly acknowledgment.
Why does this memory endure?
Why was the event so pleasurable?
I want to live in a world where I feel safe and other people feel safe, where people feel welcomed and wanted, where cheerfulness flies from one face to the next, a gift received and returned as fast as a game of tennis. I want to contribute to that outcome. I am grateful this human was receptive to me and allowed his joy to show. Such a small moment and yet it has fed my spirit for days.
Reoccurring problem. My husband sees an empty space and fills it. For him, domestic space is like a supermarket parking lot. If you don’t see a car there, feel free to drive into the spot. To me, our domestic space is a like an apartment building with leased parking spaces. Only one item has legitimate claim to any given area. You cannot be where you don’t belong, or you will be towed away at your own expense.
At the end of our hallway is large desk size built in shelf. This space has been doing triple duty for more than two and half years. One third is where I store my two purses, next to that is overflow food storage, and next to that are hard drives. Don’t worry, the sugar does not comingle with the technology. They are separated by bins and baskets. As I write it out, this arrangement sounds strange. I wish it were differernt but who has the time and space to make things not weird.
So yesterday, both purses are lolling around in chairs making it hard to sit down. Tidying up, I gather them, walk them over to the purse basket and find a five-pound bag of whole wheat flour sitting in their spot! UGH! I am instantly annoyed. My kid wanders by, and I ask in a rather surly tone,
Did you put this here?!
No!
Just as I suspected, it’s dad! I am going to teach him a lesson.
My kid looks at me skeptically. Maybe even disapprovingly. I probably should heed the message in their body language, but the rush of frustration is already in full gallop, and I march the big bag of flour to his desk and deposit it in his chair. Now he will know what it is like to find a place you intend to use blocked by a ridiculous culinary obstacle.
I bide my time, waiting for him to need his computer. I am waiting for some type of outburst. Disappointed, nothing happens.
I check his chair and the flour is gone. It’s back on the shelf next to the purses where it belongs. I retrieve it and march it back to him.
Did you notice this on your chair? I demand.
I was wondering how that got there, he says totally nonchalant. It’s like it doesn’t matter one way or another. What’s so mysterious about a five-pound bag of flour showing up in your office? It doesn’t faze him. In his world, bags of flour being accidently deposited on office chairs is just a thing that can happen that needs no explanation, that jumpstarts no line of questioning, it forces no interrogation of fellow family members. This man cannot be taught a lesson!
I attempt to explain the outlandish violation and he says he has no idea that my purses go in a purse basket. He says he thought the whole thing was grocery storage.
What?!?
Well, here’s what. What I think of as our systems are really only my systems. He says now he knows and will not do it again.
That should make me happy, and it’s probably true as who wouldn’t want to avoid another run in with me in this state. But I am not satisfied. I wanted to make him be like me and he is not like me.
He is not like me.
This is a good thing. He doesn’t explode out of the blue. He doesn’t need organizational integrity to be ok. And it’s okay that I do create systems. I just need to understand that I am the person responsible for their maintenance. I am best suited for that, and he is best suited for not being a critical jerk.
I am the one who keeps not learning the lesson. I need to learn the lesson.
Sidewalk Face 