WIFESPEAK: If only husbands listened to their wives...
A man does not like to be told what do, especially by the wife. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- His wife was the last person that he wanted to listen to, which was to his detriment as he soon came to learn.
- "I hope today you learned how wise it is to always listen to your wife-and to do what she says,” I said.
- Do you have feedback on this story? E-mail: [email protected]
It is generally accepted that a man does not like to be told what to do. Not by their colleagues, boss, children, parents or neighbours and most definitely not by their wife.
On the onset of their marriage, my friend Betty, would share light bulb ideas with her husband who was keen on starting a business. She did extensive research and shared with him any ideas she felt would work best for the business.
He would ignore or dismiss her ideas. Two weeks later, he would come home excited and share with her this amazing idea that he had come up with about the business. Only, it would be the exact replica of her idea, the one he had dismissed.
She would get upset and remind him that it was her idea in the first place. An argument would ensue with her swearing that she would never share her ideas with him again.
But sharing comes naturally for us women and so she kept sharing her ideas only for them to be ignored and later adopted as his ideas.
This cycle went on for so long, until someone told Betty that men do not like being told what to do.
She was informed that a man would rather have his nail pulled out rather than admit that most of the brilliant ideas that he was running around implementing originated from his wife.
There have been hundreds of ideas that I have shared with hubby but he does not like them at first, then later gets to warm up to and even like. But there is not one time that I have told him what to do and he happily complied.
At least, not in the manner that I would like.
STALE JUICE
Take for instance this weekend when we had travelled out of town. During breakfast at the hotel we were staying in, I took a sniff of the alleged fresh juice and scrunched my face.
“This juice is not fresh,” I said taking a teeny-weeny taste of it and immediately spat it out into a serviette.
“Na uko na maringo,” he snorted, gulping down the juice.
Within seconds, he had drained the small glass of juice and gone for more. When he came back, I took his glass and sniffed again. The melon juice still had a stale smell.
“That juice is not fresh at all. In fact, it is contaminated,” I said. He shook his head and reminded me to be humble and patient with people.
I had earlier complained about the lukewarm shower, the unclean bedsheets and the general lousy service at the inn.
“Their services are terrible. And that juice is spoilt. You should not be taking it.”
He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the horrible breakfast.
His wife was the last person that he wanted to listen to, which was to his detriment as he soon came to learn.
TROUBLE
Two hours into our trip, he begun to complain.
“I have a stomach upset.”
“Told you that juice was spoilt,” I muttered, unable to resist the allure of "I told you so".
He tried to downplay the discomfort, but nature cannot be ignored. Within twenty minutes, he was sweating.
“Wah! I think you need to drive. Let me lie down a bit.”
I obliged.
“Please stop at the next petrol station or restaurant. I need to use the bathroom.”
He was doubled over in pain. And from that moment, it was panic for both of us. I handled the road like those maniac miraa car drivers whose goal does not include safety.
To cut a very dramatic story short, we found a hotel by the roadside and swerved in. Hubby ran out before the car came to a proper stop.
I read several chapters of a novel as he camped in the restrooms. As his tummy did the rounds, I called my doctor friend who assured us that it was not the dreaded cholera.
He only needed to wait it out with fluids until the bug cleared from his tummy.
Eventually he started feeling better and only stopped once or twice on the way home. He was alright by the evening and did not need to visit the hospital.
“I hope today you learned how wise it is to always listen to your wife-and to do what she says,” I said.
“The biggest lesson I took away is to always sniff my juice and to never ever taste it if smells suspicious,” he replied.
He totally missed my point.
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Do you have feedback on this story? E-mail: [email protected]
