The Gauge of Your Words

“I love you!” I smile at Ginny.

“Love you more!” She laughs. It’s Saturday, her day to love me more.

“I love you too. Remember, tomorrow is ‘my’ day.”

Our days are always filled with loving words and actions. We hold hands. We
laugh. If one of us does something to annoy the other or if we see the other doing
something silly, like using a metal utensil in a nonstick pan, we don’t berate each other.
We make a joke of it. “If you can use that fork to scratch your back, you can do the same
to the pan.” Ginny will say with a grin.

“But the pan was itchy!” I reply. We laugh, but I get her point and switch to a
plastic or wooden fork or spoon.

If Ginny had said, “Mike! What the heck are you doing using a metal utensil on
that nonstick pan? You’re going to scratch the surface. Don’t be such a fool! Get a
wooden spoon, you moron! Look what you did! This pan is useless now!”

My reply might be. “Well, I’m cooking, not you. If you want to cook, then do
it yourself. I don’t need someone telling me how to cook!”

We have the beginning of an argument.

Couples squabble over the silliest things. Most times, it is unnecessary. It’s all in
the delivery and your choice of words.

I write stories and send them out to my readers. In return, I receive a lot of
comments on what I wrote. Sometimes, there are only a few comments. Other times,
I’ll spend a day responding to the emails. It is on those days, I know I said the right thing.

I say to Ginny, “I love you!” I know what I will hear in return.

I say to Ginny, “This room is a mess. Look at the dust! Don’t you think you
should clean once in a while?” I know quite well what the response will be, and it will
probably hurt.

If I say, “Hun, our room’s a mess. How about we pick a day this week and tidy
up? Together, we’ll get it cleaned in no time.” Her response will be much more favorable
and less painful.

The quality of the response gauges the quality of your words.

Michael T. Smith

Story ID:	7078
Written by:	Michael Timothy Smith (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Musings, Essays and Such
Location:	Caldwell Idaho USA
Year:	2011
Person:	Me