I think we all have habits or quirks that drive us a little crazy about our spouses, children, or other housemates. It doesn’t always have to be crazy in a bad way either, but I often find myself in those moments where I simply shake my head, and continue on.
I will admit 100 per cent that I am the one who leaves wet towels on the floor and dirty dishes in the sink, and that it drives my husband crazy (in a bad way). And I’m sure I have some weird habits that make him cringe, or shake it his head.
Lately, we’ve been playing some board games though, and while I always knew he had a weird knack for playing certain games, we recently got into a bit of a disagreement after I used the word “random” to describe all the “random” facts he keeps stormed in his brain.
A recent game of Trivial Pursuit 90s edition left me wondering who this person was that I had been married to for over 10 years. I’m not sure why he quickly and clearly knows facts about basketball games held in the 90s, or how he knows more about American celebrities than he knows about his own extended family.
While I wouldn’t say it’s an annoying tendency, or a bad one, it is one that baffles me a little. I don’t think I’m an incredibly smart person, but I also don’t think I’m a dumb person by any means. I did well in school, but clearly only learnt was I needed to know.
Somehow, over his 35 years of life, my husband has managed to gather a lot of “random” information, and keeps it neatly filed in his mind, just like he keeps the rest of his life. Maybe this is simple an extension of his neat-freak habits, and some encouragement for me to live a more organized lifestyle.
Another word I’ve caught myself using to describe my husband’s knack for remembering movie facts, celebrity names, sports statistics (which I will admit, is quite amazing since I hate most anything with numbers), and other bits of information is “useless.”
I think he finds this word even more offensive than random. He will debate all night about why the information he knows isn’t “useless,” especially after beating me (more like slaughtering me) at a game of Trivial Pursuit. I just have yet to figure out where all this information is useful, outside of playing board games.
Regardless of the usefulness, I do find myself a little bitter at the fact that despite having more schooling behind me, and doing well academically my whole life, I can only collect one (maybe two) Trivial Pursuit wedges in the time it takes him to win the game.
After we debated back and forth a bit about which word to use, and taking “random” and “useless” out of the running, he decided the best word to describe his talents was “special.” I guess I will go with it, while mentally substituting it with my own choice of words when I lose my next games of Trivial Pursuit.
