As I mopped, ran back and forth to the breaker
box and started the unanticipated load of toilet-water laundry, I could have
done it all without a word letting him finish readying for work to head out the
door to a hopefully better day…but I did not.
It seems the electrical outlets were not the
only ones burned out by the overload of activity in the sum total of 30 minutes
my feet had been on the floor. The friction of my frustration at our manic
morning electrified my emotions as I amped up the voltage and hit him with one
of those live wires that starts, “Why didn’t you just…”
ZAP!
I was in a snit. Not a full-blown fit where
everything overheats and melts down. A snit. Not a fight where sparks fly and
you lash out at the other person with malintent and heat seeking precision.
Just a snit, my own personal huff where I should phrase my questions better or
not ask them at all because the answers are really no longer relevant. Just a
snit where if someone had not been grounded enough to know better than to
engage, they might have gotten quite a jolt.
My husband and I are wired very differently.
Differently than most outsiders anticipate. Many a mechanic has been shocked to
find I am the one they need to direct their diagnosis to. I am the
spatial-relations-assemble-the-furniture-fix-the-vacuum-with-a-butter-knife-call-the-plumber-can-always-find-true-north-fix-the-immediate-problem
partner in our nuptial pact. But I still love nail polish, Vogue and huge
glitzy holiday parties filled with friends.
He is the
way-with-words-master-communicator-buy-quality-so-it-doesn’t-break-always-book-a-reservation-let-someone-else-drive-make-sure-everyone-is-heard-resolve-the-issue-to-the-best-resolution-for-all
component to our cohabitation. And he still loves boxing, hoagies and EA
PlayStation marathons with his brothers at Christmas.
AC and DC, two very different types of
current, both powering the same household. AC changes directions quickly, plugs
right in and rolls with it. She gets her energy from outside connections and is
great at keeping the daily things running. But she shuts down when the wires
get crossed or the squall becomes incessant.
DC weathers the storm, is self-sufficient,
great for portability and keeps the lights on when the darkness is closing in.
He supplies a direct, focused, steady flow of current. However, the batteries
drain and he needs time out from all of the activity to recharge.
And, for the most part, we ebb and flow as
needed according to our individual talents. However, this particular morning,
the current chaos had all landed directly in my wheelhouse and I had revved up
my resentment over our existing electrical grid.
Zap! Snit! Zing! I was short-circuiting. And once my husband walked out the door, I
satiated my stress with three full cereal bowls of salty satisfaction popped to
perfection for breakfast. Crunching the kernels as I bit my tongue and
swallowed down all of the unhelpful utterances which sought to escape my now
fully galvanized disposition directly into my empty kitchen.
Then I fixed the toilet, dried the clothes
and called the electrician.
I waited for his prognosis, prepared for
some massive problem that required immediate maintenance. An underlying error
so monumental it was placing us all in peril and required a complete
dismantling of the current system…but no.
Turns out, the breaker box was fine. All of
the outlets were fine. All of the connections were solid. It was the wiring
that was a little wacky. It had been laid long ago and all routed in a very
unconventional way. Which worked for the most part, but on occasion, with just
the right configuration of demands, overburdened the circuit. It happens in
most households from time to time. So he put in a reset button.
According to him, no matter how screwy the
wiring, if everything’s good overall and there’s no chance of getting burned,
unless it’s driving you to drink, just go with it. Take a moment, unplug for a
bit, then press reset.
Sound advice.
So, after he left. I took a moment and unplugged
for a bit. Then I picked up my phone, called my husband and pressed reset.
Follow me on twitter and Instagram! @TheLauraBecker
Follow me on twitter and Instagram! @TheLauraBecker
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