The thing that puzzles me is why I’d even consider sharing thoughts or actions that would cast me in a less than a favorable light. Maybe it is the need for transparency. Maybe confession is good for the soul. Maybe I’m simply a slow learner and repeatedly make myself vulnerable to sharing things that would better be left unsaid.
Three or four days after I started posting a daily blog, I shared an episode where Treva and I tagged-teamed in dealing with an issue involving one of our grandchildren. We were in North Carolina at the time taking care of them while Craig and Becky were in Hawaii. I didn’t orchestrate the circumstances, but when the occasion presented itself I intuitively took the opportunity for the two of us to play “good cop/bad cop.” It probably comes as no surprise, but as luck would have it, I opted to play the “good cop” role.
When Treva read my account of the story, she made the observation that all of my stories seem to have the same general theme. I always come out as the hero. Actually, I think she over-reacted in making that accusation. However, she wasn’t angry at the time. It was more of a statement of fact or at least her perception of the facts.
I found the accusation somewhat bothersome. After forty-six years of marriage I know what I can get by with and I know what will get me court marshaled. (Oops, sorry about the analogy – I guess it has to do with the General thing). At any rate, guilt is one of the motivating factors in my life. Consequently, the tone of some of my blogs immediately changed. Hopefully they were still humorous, but I shared some of my “less than favorable” moments in an effort to ensure I was not mistaken as a knight in shining armor. What I didn’t realize at the time is that Treva and I were not Facebook friends. That was before I started soliciting her participation to proofread the material I was posting. Consequently most of the stories I told at my expense escaped her awareness.
From day one, I’ve been pretty confidant that referring to Treva as the General wouldn’t get me in hot water. Presenting myself as “John Boy Walton” or the guy who could do no wrong would be the Achilles heel that could get me thrown into the brig.
I always succumb to guilt. I have enough of it that one could easily ascertain that I am either Baptist or Catholic. I took immediate corrective action. Anytime I have the perception that I’m in trouble, I won’t rest until absolution is made and I get out of the “dog house.”
Fortunately, at that time, I was not really in big trouble; just in the neighborhood. Subsequently almost three months later, in order to ensure I stayed out of trouble, I opted only to make a passing comment related to the General disposing of the adapter I used with my Keurig coffee maker in order to use K-cup packs with the Vue. Treva said she was throwing away the trash that I didn’t throw away. It is my perception that she either inadvertently or purposefully disposed on the adapter when she couldn’t get a previously used K-cup pack out of it. Under the auspices of “here today/gone tomorrow” my coffee drinking experience immediately tapered off. The problem was finding a replacement adapter. They are not easily locatable.
Several times over the course of the ensuing weeks that I did without the coffee adapter, on many occasions I wanted to ask the General, “What were you thinking? Nobody throws away a plastic adapter because they can’t get a k-cup removed. Why didn’t you just turn it upside down and let gravity take care of it!” I wanted to say it, but I didn’t! To begin with, to talk to the General in that manner would have served no positive purpose. My frustration associated to the unavailability of coffee wasn’t going to dissipate just because I said something stupid to my wife.
When I couldn’t locate an adapter at Bed, Bath & Beyond in Round Rock, Treva attempted to locate one in Austin. Two weeks later, she was in West Texas and picked up one at Bed Bath and Beyond in Midland. I was elated.
Unpacking it from the box it came in, I noticed it was a little different from the last adapter, but it looked like it would work. Unfortunately, when I tried it, it didn’t work. I couldn’t figure it out. For whatever reason, I couldn’t get the lid to close.
Going back to the box to look for directions, I noticed it didn’t specifically reference for use with a K-cup pack. After all, close only works when tossing horseshoes. She bought the wrong adapter. At least, she made a good faith effort.
Over the next three weeks, she repeatedly told me to go back to Bed, Bath & Beyond in Round Rock and see if their shipment of Keurig adapters had arrived. I subsequently checked there and at one other store. They simply were not available. Did I mention that the frustration resurfaced, “What were you thinking?” kinds of questions came back to mind. I simply dismissed the thoughts and opted to let them be my secret.
This weekend I opted to have a cup of Chai Latte using a Vue-pack for the Keurig. It was really tasty. I awakened early the next morning and thought of using the Vue-pack the evening before. The Vue-pack didn’t have a lid on it. It was an Aha moment. I was supposed to have taken the plastic lid off of the adapter if I was going to use it strictly with a K-cup. I immediately went to confirm my suspicion was correct. It worked perfectly!
The long and short of it is that I’ve had an adapter available for my use for the past month, but I failed to read the instructions or remember how to use it. What was I thinking? I found myself embarrassed that I’d ever considered asking Treva what she was thinking. The mistake I had just repeatedly made over a four week period negated enjoyment of a lot of good coffee.
I don’t always get it right.