When our children left home and were no longer around to observe and imitate (that's the scary part) our table manners, my husband started putting his elbow up on the the table at dinner. It's just the two of us, I thought, what harm can it do? Lots. It turns out bad habits are like holiday pounds--easy to put on and hard to lose. Now his elbow is practically glued to the table no matter where we are or who we are with. Depending on what we are eating, he will even contort his right arm into unnatural positions so he can cut his food while his left arm is in the way. My husband has seemingly lost the ability to sit upright at the table unarmed. The camel does not just have its nose in the tent. It is eating the tent.
That is why I am now so vigilant about other bad habits developing, like his recent tendency to leave candy wrappers and empty bottles in the living room instead of the garbage can. This time I am not asking what harm can it do. I already know, and it involves me becoming a maid. The same goes for his new habit of leaving his dirty dishes on the counter above the dishwasher instead of inside it. Despite his intentions to put them away later, I recognize this as a slippery, dishwasher-soap coated, slope leading to more work for me.
I am not sure why many years of good habits are suddenly falling away. I know that my own habitual housecleaning standards have certainly gotten lax through the years, but that means less work for me, whereas my husband's bad habits mean more work for me. I fear manners patrol will turn me into Emily Post's nasty little watchdog, but I do not fear that as much as becoming my husband's housemaid. And if I save my manners memos for when it's just the two of us, when no one is around to observe and imitate my behavior, what harm can it do?
No comments:
Post a Comment