626 It's Never "Nothing"

626 It's Never "Nothing."

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"No, really. You look annoyed. What's going on?"

"Nothing. Really. It's nothing."

It's never nothing.

In the eons-old jousting between men and women, women have taken to (a) denying what they'd really like to tell you or (b) refraining from punching you out over some slight, real or imagined or (c) admitting you know them well enough to perceive the radiation of "something is wrong" vibes from them.

What's truly scary is when you, the guy, know what is wrong and you can't get the lady to confirm it.

The other day on arising, the look of scorn came over "her" face.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Nothing."

"No, really you look annoyed. What's going on."

"Nothing. Really, it's nothing."

But it WAS something. It always is.

The t- shirt was too tight.

It took two days, but finally: "You look like a meatball in that yellow t- shirt. You look like a sausage."

AHAH! It WAS something. It always is. In this case, it's a "so what?" moment. But that almost never solves the problem.

You didn't put the cat out. You didn't take the garbage out. You had one-too-many glasses of wine at dinner. You didn't load the dishwasher. You DID load the dishwasher but you still came back with spotted dishes. You didn't wish my mother a happy birthday.

"But your mother's been dead for 30 years."

"No matter. You still should have called. Or maybe the car needs washing. Or the laundry needs washing. Or "You told me not to buy two packages of bath soap at Sam's Club two weeks ago and we'll soon be out of the stuff."

Freud is said to have asked "What do women want?"

The answer is "nothing, dear. It's really nothing."

No it ain't. It's never nothing.

Shrapnel:

--We shouldn't be too hard on Sarah Palin about her book. She's rewriting history. But she's not alone, as election losers and losers in life are always trying to do that and usually getting away with it.

--The White House is ratcheting up its anti-Israeli rhetoric by calling new housing in Jerusalem "dismaying." What's dismaying is the President's boot liking attitude toward the so-called Palestinians, people who didn't really exist when Israel was found, but who have found a voice long since. And they forget that they already have a "homeland," which is called Jordan, which doesn't want them either.

--Go have that Whopper or Big Mac. There's a new study that shows you're no more likely to have heart trouble as a result than did some 3,500 year old mummies who have been discovered lately to have had heart disease. Arteries clog for all kinds of reasons, including stuff they ate more than 3,000 years ago without being asked "you want fries with that?"

I'm Wes Richards. My opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them.®

©WJR 2009