So I'm thinking to myself, trying not to completely lean into their space with my curiosity, about how "cool" their life together must be. They're probably students, studying late hours, books everywhere, just happy for the chance to sit and have a meal together-which they are now preparing for in advance. I saw "chili" and "yogurt covered fruit" as the list of their Meals to Freeze. Ahh, reach for the stars kids. The world is yours.
But then this plane ride takes a turn. Not literally, otherwise we could have ended up in Utah. Although at one point, it's so turbulent that Mr. Married does spill his Jack and Coke everywhere. On the Kindle, even. Rough.
Anyway, somewhere near the end of the trip, as the husband is taking out his Kindle, obviously to read from it, while he has his headphones on, the wife says, "Can I talk to you about something, if you're not doing anything else?" Well, I was actually. But sure.
She proceeds to lay out for him a wide range of scientific study which suggests that... a bed should only be used for sleeping. Reading in bed, or doing anything stressful in bed (she mentioned "homework", zing! I was right about the books everywhere in their apartment!) can be disruptive to the body's ability to go to sleep in that same spot. So she suggests, get ready for it.. chairs. Chairs in the bedroom is what she is suggesting to him on this flight. And she's doing a great job; "I think there's enough space.." followed by, "A lot of people have them.." and finally, "I just-the studies.. it's what they say."
And then he says "Ya. Sure. Sounds good." And now turns his Kindle off and takes his headphones out because we've reached that altitude in our descent where it's "no longer cool", as one flight attendant pointed out, to have your electronic devices on. And so he pulls out his gun magazine, but before he turns the first page, "I'm really glad you like the idea!" "Ya." And the only question he asks is "Wait, what kind of chairs are we talking about here?" To which she replies, "Oh nothing very expensive! Just some small chairs. Maybe even a love-seat so we could sit together and read!" To which he replies, "Ya. K. Ya."
As soon as those three ticks of noise are out, his eyes are focused on the gun magazine. And then she proceeds to further the conversation, "I mean, it's not like we have to sit there every night or anything, it's just..." Eyesoffpage. "Ya." Eyesbackonpage. He obviously doesn't care to talk about this any further, yet she keeps plowing through. She will magically will the small, inexpensive chairs into their bedroom with her words.
Does she know that he doesn't care, that he would rather be reading about something about a gun which seems like the worst thing in the world to read about but who am I to judge? Or, does she knowingly not care herself, like she has a point to get across and she'll do it come Desert Eagle or .44 Magnum? And lastly, is that going to be me?! Will I be that girlfriend/wife/slave to the kitchen?! Are those what marital conversations are like? I mean, I get it... you have to have conversations about necessary, but not necessarily fun for everyone subjects. Chairs in the bedroom. I get it. But what will I do when, while I'm talking about something important to me, all he wants to do is read about guns? Is that something you just get used to? Or should he have said, "Can we talk about this later? I just want to play on my Kindle." Should he have said that, or would there ever be a better time for him to be interested?
After that conversation between the two people sitting next to me, I thought, "How will I ever marry a boy?" ... Stay tuned to find out!
