My wife, always practical, bought a load of white ceramic bowls sometime before I met her. They are practical to eat a load of food from when you sit on the couch, whether it be a solid meal or some soup.
After some time dating, I moved in with her, bringing in my stuff. Well, not all of it, but at least my cutlery and crockery, including two slightly similar bowls. Well, just slightly similar. Mine have a curved edge and hers have not.
Over time, we have moved places a few times, first from her cramped apartment to a nice but very old house. And throughout these years, I have noticed something. In the house, we have all the bowls piled up in the cupboard. My bowls are at the bottom. Always. Well, I guess it’s easier to pick stuff from the top, and I can’t be bothered to lift the entire pile to put the clean ones underneath after washing up. So, while I take notice, I do not really care.
Later, we move again, after buying an apartment in my original hometown. The cupboard sizes are slightly different here, so the bowls are stacked in two piles now because it is just too small for one large pile. The bowls move from left to right, with the two I brought on the bottom of the left pile. But I notice that my wife starts switching back to the right pile as soon as we reach the two odd ones.
At some point, the pile gets a bit mixed up, so after a washing-up, the two odd bowls are at the top of the left pile instead of at the bottom. The next day, I find the left pile empty… except for my two bowls. While I am not angry or anything, I just find this a bit odd and funny. And now I am sure that she is avoiding using them for some reason. I suspect her autism (I have it, too) or some other pet peeve about their slightly different shape. But I can’t help but wonder.
So, after finishing the washing-up, I go “confront” her. (With a grin on my face, mind you.)
Me: “May I ask something? What do you have against the two bowls with the curved edges? Why on Earth are you avoiding using them?”
My wife laughs and puts on a slightly guilty grin.
Wife: “That’s gonna be a long story… You remember you bought those two and brought them with you?”
Me: “Yes.”
Wife: “Do you also remember when you bought them? We were still dating, and you had seen my collection of bowls and said, ‘Oh, that’s neat. I should have a few ones, too, for soup and such.’”
Me: “Continue.”
Wife: “Well, I really wanted you to buy similar bowls, so we could merge them when we moved in together. And what did you do?” *Pauses* “You bought slightly different ones!”
Me: “Well, slightly, yes…”
Wife: “And since then, I have secretly hated them because I took it as a nonverbal sign that you didn’t want to move in with me!”
She laughs because she knows it’s ridiculous. We have lived together for eight years now, are married, and have a child and two doggies. She laughs, and I laugh, too.
Me: “Seriously? Oh, my God.”
Wife: “I know it’s stupid, but…”
Me: “And I brought dinner and breakfast plates, too, that don’t fit yours! You were using one of them today! That old 1980s stuff my parents passed on to me!”
Wife: “I KNOW, RIGHT?”
Me: “I don’t know whether to laugh or be insulted. Nah, it’s too silly and harmless to be insulted.”
Yes, my wife is practical and reasonable… most of the time. But at least this pet peeve gave us both a good laugh.