I know it’s kind of a scary picture, but this is a husband – my husband, Charlie. And, he can’t see the forest for the trees! No, it’s not because he’s wearing glasses or that at 62-years-old he’s on the near side (no pun intended) of old age! He can’t see the forest for the trees because he’s a man. And, he proved it again this morning.
We (Charlie and I) try to visit my aunt once a week at the residential care facility where she resides. So, we decided that today would be that day. My aunt has a dog, an elderly Sheltie named Sonny. Now poor Sonny is a very sweet, loving dog, but he’s highly allergic to chicken. A lot of dog food has chicken in it, so we are very careful about what we feed him. His vet has said he can have rice and Sonny loves rice, so I’ve been making rice for Sonny every week and taking it to him in the assisted living facility.
Anyway, in my hasty, frenzied “toot sweet “ life, I sometimes forget to take Sonny fresh rice. So, my husband suggested that we purchase a pot, take the pot and the rice to my aunt’s apartment (she has a small kitchen in her unit at the residential care facility) and then I could make the rice every time we visit. I thought this was a particularly brilliant idea (that Charlie – he’s always thinking!), so I asked Tiffany to look for a pot while she was out on her many shopping excursions. I also asked her to keep her eye open for a refrigerator storage container to put the cooked rice in. My aunt has limited use of her hands because of arthritis and opening any of the major brands of plastic storage containers that snap, crackle or pop is difficult for her.
Well, Tiffany came through and purchased the most perfect pot at Ikea. It is small and lightweight, but big enough for a week’s portion of Sonny’s cooked rice. It has two handles, so it is easy to carry. And, it has a lid! The lid is perfect because now we don’t need a separate refrigerator storage container – we can just put the pot in the frig! And, my aunt can easily take off the lid!
Anyway, I forgot to ask Tiffany to buy a measuring cup to measure the rice, in order to cook the rice. Though my aunt has a kitchen, she doesn’t have any kitchen equipment. She is fed three meals a day in a dining room and there is really no need for the kitchen, but it does make her place feel more like a home. So, this morning, I asked Charlie to take a certain coffee mug out of the cupboard and we would take that with us and leave it in my aunt’s apartment for future rice making endeavors. Well, I wanted it to be a specific mug that I wasn’t particularly fond of or that had any special meaning to me because once that mug was left behind at the assisted living facility, we may never see it again. So, here’s the conversation from this morning:
“Charlie, can you get that old mug out of the cupboard and put it by my purse so that I don’t forget to take it? I need a mug to measure Sonny’s rice.”
“Sure.”
A few minutes later, Charlie hollers (I’m in another part of the house, still getting ready):
“Are you sure we still have it? I can’t find it! Are you sure it’s in this cupboard?”
Silently, I roll my eyes and shake my head. In 23 years of marriage, this has been a reoccurring theme. Charlie is usually looking for something in the refrigerator or pantry. I tell him exactly where it is and he claims it’s not there! And, when I go to retrieve said item, it is exactly where I said it was! Milk is a classic example. I can’t tell you how many times he has opened the frig and asked if we had milk and it is right where it always is – in front of his face!
So, I walk down the hall to the kitchen, open the cupboard door and pull out said mug. “Oh, I didn’t see it!” he mutters.
Forest – trees!
I have a couple of theories:
- Men just want to see if we are paying attention to them
- Men just want to see if we will come and help them
- Men can’t see in front of their faces, but can only see peripherally
Do you have a theory?
P.S. The cute little Ikea pot has measurements inside of it! Way cool!
Tootles,
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(other posts on Eldercare)
This one not only made me chuckle, but actually laugh out loud. I like all three theories. but I think the true one is that they want to see if we’ll come help which also means we were listening to them which covers the first one too.