30 Days of Joy: My Wife and I Hate the Same Things

Note: This article is the next step in my challenge to find joy in something — anything — every day for 30 days. Today’s entry is part 23.

My wife and I are meant to be.

And while I never question that, it’s always nice to be reminded of that.

Today brought two reminders.

The first came when we, of all things, went shopping.

Like many husbands, I can’t stand shopping for myself, much less for somebody else.

But my wife needed some new work pants, and in picking those new work pants, she needed a second opinion.

Go to any apparel store on the weekend and you’ll see the same scene on repeat — a woman walking ahead with an ever-increasing selection of clothing to try on, as the man trails behind, carrying the bags of the clothing that’s already been purchased.

Thankfully, that wasn’t us.

Lucky for me, my wife hates shopping as much as I do.

She grabbed the pair of pants she wanted and tried them on, as I sat on a couch near the dressing room (bless all the stores that provide places to sit!), writing an article on my phone, looking up only to tell her I thought the pants looked nice.

She agreed, the pants were paid for and we were out the door.

The whole thing took less than 15 minutes.

This afternoon, we went to a movie, “The Big Sick.” (I highly recommend it.)

As with most matinees, the theater wasn’t all that full.

Yet that didn’t stop someone from sitting in the seat next to mine.

Who does that?

I get everyone has their preferred movie seating choice, and I’m happy to share the armrest when it’s warranted.

But why not show some respect for personal space?

Going in, I figured the most egregious faux pas we’d encounter was people unnecessarily sitting in the seats directly in front of us. But this took it to the next level.

And with a split second of eye contact — and simultaneous eye-rolling — it was clear my wife agreed.

Our connection has exceeded the spoken word.

So, to recap:

My wife and I are meant to be together because of our shared disdain for shopping and overly aggressive, socially clueless moviegoers.

What else could one marriage need?

*****

This originally appeared on 100 Naked Words.