LJ Idol Week 19, Prompt: Mamihlapinatapai
Oct. 5th, 2022 04:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mollywheezyMy husband and I joke that we share a brain because we think so much alike after 26 years of marriage. We even say things like, “You can’t have the brain today! It’s my turn to have the brain! I need the brain today!” We will often be in dance class and look at each other and start laughing because we know we are thinking the same thing. We get odd looks from our teachers who ask us what’s going on, but we just respond, “Nothing dance related.” We can decide things with a look and don’t always need words.
My grandparents and parents had this skill as well and so do my in-laws, all married for 54 years. (My in-laws will hopefully make more than that, as they are still counting.) I always believed people with this communication skill had it all the time, but I have learned through my own marriage that is not the case. Our looks and non-verbal communication sometimes fail with hilarious results.
For our entire married life, my husband Arthur has sung in the church choir, which means we are usually facing each other since I am normally in the congregation. We had been married about five years and during the worship service, Arthur made definitive eye contact with me. He pointed to the person sitting next to him, and then made hand motions like he was passing an offering plate. I made the American Sign Language sign for “What?” and Arthur shrugged, not knowing that sign. I asked one of the ushers to pass the offering plate to the choir. He was very surprised but said he would. During the offertory, I saw every choir member look at the offering plate as it came by with extremely confused expressions. Arthur looked at it strangely and then got a facepalm expression on his face although he didn’t actually facepalm. He shook his head no. I gathered that I had misinterpreted his message based on the confused looks of every person in the choir. Then Arthur began making eating and drinking motions and pointing at the person next to him. I used the ASL alphabet and signed W-T-H. Arthur shook his head and started trying to mouth words at me. He has a beard so reading his lips is hard especially from a distance. I shrugged. When it came time for Holy Communion, the person next to Arthur, John and his wife Kate stood up to help serve. I realized what Arthur had been trying to tell me. The worship leaders had double booked communion servers, and he was trying to let me know we were not serving that day. He explained fully after the service, after all four ushers had run up to me asking if passing the offering plate to the choir was something new we were doing and why they hadn’t heard about it. I had to explain our communication failure but at least they had a sense of humor and neither Arthur nor I ever take ourselves too seriously.
I often have my own private stand up comedian in Arthur. Very few people get to see that side of him but he’s hilarious. One evening after I preached at a small, very informal Sunday evening service, I admitted to Arthur and our close friends with whom we were eating dinner that I really had a brain cramp in the middle of the sermon. Our friends loyally said they couldn’t tell. Arthur laughed and said he knew. I gave him “The Look” and he shrugged. He began waving one arm as if he were doing bicep curls and said, “I don’t remember what I am going to say next so I am pumping my arm up and down in order to jog my brain, or possibly I am trying to grasp my point from the air. Oh! Now I am moving my arm more quickly! My arm must keep moving or I might lose the ability to speak.” He was doing a perfect imitation of me and I was laughing so hard I was crying. I hadn’t realized I moved my arm like that, but Arthur completely had me pegged. A few weeks later, I was leading the Sunday evening worship service again and caught myself in mid arm-pump so stopped my arm moving and then stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence. My brain really wouldn’t work without my arm pumping! Arthur was sitting towards the back and one glance at him, he knew exactly what I was thinking. I had to quit looking at him because he was silently shaking with the effort to prevent an escaping guffaw. Nobody else noticed my momentary stop, but as we often say, Arthur speaks Molly.
One day early last year, Arthur said, "Why is my toothbrush WET?!" I had brushed my teeth at an odd time of day. I told him, "That is my toothbrush."
He said, "I'm green!"
"No, I am green. You are blue. Green, G, for girl. Blue, B, for boy."
Him: "I'm blue?"
Me: YES
I have no idea how long the two of us were using the same toothbrush. I know we are married and share cooties but EWW! So we took new toothbrushes from the pack from Sam's, and both of the remaining toothbrushes were blue. *facepalm* We had to designate sides of the toothbrush holder until I could buy more.
I bought two toothbrushes from Target which were different colors, so we were good again. I chose bright purple so he wouldn't want to steal it. At least most of our miscommunications aren’t quite so germy.
My grandparents and parents had this skill as well and so do my in-laws, all married for 54 years. (My in-laws will hopefully make more than that, as they are still counting.) I always believed people with this communication skill had it all the time, but I have learned through my own marriage that is not the case. Our looks and non-verbal communication sometimes fail with hilarious results.
For our entire married life, my husband Arthur has sung in the church choir, which means we are usually facing each other since I am normally in the congregation. We had been married about five years and during the worship service, Arthur made definitive eye contact with me. He pointed to the person sitting next to him, and then made hand motions like he was passing an offering plate. I made the American Sign Language sign for “What?” and Arthur shrugged, not knowing that sign. I asked one of the ushers to pass the offering plate to the choir. He was very surprised but said he would. During the offertory, I saw every choir member look at the offering plate as it came by with extremely confused expressions. Arthur looked at it strangely and then got a facepalm expression on his face although he didn’t actually facepalm. He shook his head no. I gathered that I had misinterpreted his message based on the confused looks of every person in the choir. Then Arthur began making eating and drinking motions and pointing at the person next to him. I used the ASL alphabet and signed W-T-H. Arthur shook his head and started trying to mouth words at me. He has a beard so reading his lips is hard especially from a distance. I shrugged. When it came time for Holy Communion, the person next to Arthur, John and his wife Kate stood up to help serve. I realized what Arthur had been trying to tell me. The worship leaders had double booked communion servers, and he was trying to let me know we were not serving that day. He explained fully after the service, after all four ushers had run up to me asking if passing the offering plate to the choir was something new we were doing and why they hadn’t heard about it. I had to explain our communication failure but at least they had a sense of humor and neither Arthur nor I ever take ourselves too seriously.
I often have my own private stand up comedian in Arthur. Very few people get to see that side of him but he’s hilarious. One evening after I preached at a small, very informal Sunday evening service, I admitted to Arthur and our close friends with whom we were eating dinner that I really had a brain cramp in the middle of the sermon. Our friends loyally said they couldn’t tell. Arthur laughed and said he knew. I gave him “The Look” and he shrugged. He began waving one arm as if he were doing bicep curls and said, “I don’t remember what I am going to say next so I am pumping my arm up and down in order to jog my brain, or possibly I am trying to grasp my point from the air. Oh! Now I am moving my arm more quickly! My arm must keep moving or I might lose the ability to speak.” He was doing a perfect imitation of me and I was laughing so hard I was crying. I hadn’t realized I moved my arm like that, but Arthur completely had me pegged. A few weeks later, I was leading the Sunday evening worship service again and caught myself in mid arm-pump so stopped my arm moving and then stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence. My brain really wouldn’t work without my arm pumping! Arthur was sitting towards the back and one glance at him, he knew exactly what I was thinking. I had to quit looking at him because he was silently shaking with the effort to prevent an escaping guffaw. Nobody else noticed my momentary stop, but as we often say, Arthur speaks Molly.
One day early last year, Arthur said, "Why is my toothbrush WET?!" I had brushed my teeth at an odd time of day. I told him, "That is my toothbrush."
He said, "I'm green!"
"No, I am green. You are blue. Green, G, for girl. Blue, B, for boy."
Him: "I'm blue?"
Me: YES
I have no idea how long the two of us were using the same toothbrush. I know we are married and share cooties but EWW! So we took new toothbrushes from the pack from Sam's, and both of the remaining toothbrushes were blue. *facepalm* We had to designate sides of the toothbrush holder until I could buy more.
I bought two toothbrushes from Target which were different colors, so we were good again. I chose bright purple so he wouldn't want to steal it. At least most of our miscommunications aren’t quite so germy.
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Date: 2022-10-09 01:29 pm (UTC)My blue for boy and green for girl did not work because my husband used the wrong toothbrush, lol. ;)
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Date: 2022-10-10 02:37 pm (UTC)- Erulisse (one L)
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Date: 2022-10-11 04:26 pm (UTC)Very relatable and funny entry. :)
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Date: 2022-10-12 01:41 pm (UTC)Thank you!!! :)
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