By Merlin Lessler —<\/p>\n
Here I go again. Providing unwanted advice in yet another attempt to help \u201cMen From Mars\u201d get along with \u201cWomen From Venus\u201d. This time it\u2019s for men who are \u201cfast leavers\u201d married to women who are \u201cslow leavers\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n It goes something like this. He asks, \u201cReady to go?\u201d (To the store, across the country, across the street. It doesn\u2019t matter.) She replies, \u201cI\u2019ll be right there.\u201d Off he goes, gets in the car and watches for her to come out the door. <\/span><\/p>\n Two minutes go by. Then five. He starts getting antsy, \u201cWhat the heck is keeping her?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Another five minutes tick off the watch on his wrist. He starts to boil. He gets out of the car and goes to the door. Here she comes, two bags in hand. One to drop off at her mother\u2019s house, the other to be donated to the Mission. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t mind, do you,\u201d she asks, as the car bolts out of the driveway and nearly hits a woman walking down the sidewalk. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat took you so long,\u201d he asks, gritting his teeth to help keep his temper under control. <\/span><\/p>\n The reply is a long one, \u201cOh, I had to take a load of clothes out of the dryer and fold them so they wouldn\u2019t get wrinkled. Then I noticed the mirror in the bathroom was all spotty from when you washed your hands, so I wiped it off. The dishes in the sink looked messy so I rinsed them and stacked them up to dry in case someone came in and saw them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n All legitimate things. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBUT,\u201d he groans, \u201cYou said you were ready to go!\u201d She states, \u201cI was,\u201d almost.<\/span><\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t matter where you are going; the scenario is always the same. The problem is created by the \u201cslow-leaver\u201d, but the solution lies with the \u201cfast-leaver\u201d. Even a rat in a maize eventually learns how to navigate the obstacles between itself and happiness. <\/span><\/p>\n But not the men who are fidgeting and fuming while waiting in the driveway outside the door of an antique shop, or on a bench in the mall. Always surprised she\u2019s not there, like she said she would be. He believes her when she says, \u201cJust a sec!\u201d Even though it\u2019s never just a sec. He\u2019s one rat that doesn\u2019t find his way to the cheese.<\/span><\/p>\n