Advice

2 CM

By Meg ⋅ May 21, 2007 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

I do not believe that it is ever ok to make fun of other people. It is mean, makes others feel bad, and sends a huge message about your own personal integrity. It is however incredibly funny and a very large part of who I am. It is also a critical element within my marriage. We both have a sense of humor and we would quickly disintegrate without the ability to tease and laugh at each other. With that said…
I have recently discovered that a tennis ball is the difference between a calm happy man in my life and the forehead pulsing, angry man that recently appeared before me.
Let me start at the beginning. We have a new car; and a small garage. So to help in the parking of our pretty new accessory, my love hung up a tennis ball to prevent any unfortunate scratches, or garage door vs. bumper smashes. Ok, so one day I pulled in an inch too far, he lost a few years but handled the situation alright. No damage to anything, not even any almost damage, as a matter of fact, I was oblivious to the “close call” he tells me I had. The ball was an inch off of its perpendicular home; resting ever so slightly on the windshield. “Ok, touch the ball,” he says, “don’t push or hit the ball.” So for a few days I meticulously park as instructed when I begin to wonder, If pushing the ball an inch is could be so dangerous, maybe I should see how much space is left if I “almost” touch the ball. So needing a thrill and a chance to rebel against authority, I pull up leaving 2 centimeters between the windshield and ball. Then I get out, and check the clearance behind the vehicle. All is good, so I close the garage and go inside. Later that evening, my love, trying to take out the garbage, finds the park job I have done has taken away all chance of him squeezing between the bumper and the garage door to get around to the garbage can in the garage. The lack of 2 centimeters is just enough to force him into opening the garage door to get to the can. As his blood pressure skyrockets on his way to let me know about his unfortunate ordeal, I realize that my best plan of action is to shut up and listen. Well, anyone that knows me knows that this is a rather impossible goal that I will never reach. So after getting right back into his perfectionist dish, I realized the valuable lesson I had learned,— No matter what the day, or what the topic; no matter who the man, young or old, 2 cm is the distance between a woman’s joy or her failure to reach her goal.