Beech Tree News Network

One day at work, one of the guys picked up the large wad of paper shop towels one of the other employees had dropped onto the shelf after he had washed a windshield, and said, “If I ever quit, it will be because of this!”  I laughed because the words came from the mouth of a rough and tumble mechanic who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, yet he cannot stand wadded up paper towels.  He wants them to stay in nice orderly little piles.
    It’s funny the things that will push people over the edge.  One of my friends was engaged to a guy who loved to cook.  The date was set, the dress was ordered, they even had the rings, but she had to break things off.  My first thought was, “Are you out of your mind!  You have a guy who is willing to single-handedly take the “what’s for dinner” burden from your shoulders, and you’re calling it off!”  Turns out, he wouldn’t clean up after himself.  The kitchen always looked as if someone had detonated a bomb on the stove.  “I just couldn’t live with it anymore,” she told me.  It was months after the breakup before she could leave a dirty dish in the sink.
    Our household is made up of my husband, Garey, and me, as well as my daughter, Natalie and her daughter, Sabria.  At one time or the other, each one of us has threatened to leave home because of some annoying habit of a family member.  For Natalie, it’s always the stack of Sportsman’s Guide and Harbor Freight magazines Garey and I let pile up in the living room.  They overwhelm her, and if I don’t keep an eye on her, she’ll put them in my recycling box—God forbid, I lose one of my 20% off coupons from Harbor Freight or my double discount offer from Sportsman’s Guide.
    If I ever leave Garey it will be because of that little knob on the bath tub faucet.  You know the one.  You have to pull it up in order for the water to come out of the shower head instead of running into the tub.  Garey has a habit of turning off the water but not pushing that little knob back down, so when I climb into the tub and turn on the water, it hits me in the face instead of running out the faucet.
    I’m sure Garey has a mental list of deal breakers that start with my name, but our granddaughter, Sabria, currently has the distinction of being at the top of that list.  If Garey ever walks out on our family, it will be because of Elsa and Anna and their entourage of My Little Ponies.  Almost every morning, you can hear Garey mumbling to himself as he picks Sabria’s toys up from the bottom of the bathtub and puts them in the nearby plastic bucket, so he can find room to take a shower.
    Last week, Sabria stuck her little head out of the bathroom door and announced, “When I grow up, I’m not living with any of you, I’m going to live by myself, so I can do what I want to!”  Not one of us said anything back to her, because at some time during the week, we had all felt the same.
    I’ve quoted Solomon and his “the little foxes spoil the vine” many times, but I never really knew how they spoiled the vine until I read a commentary online by Benson.  It seems they gnaw on the vines and break off the little branches and leaves while the grapes are young, as well as dig holes around the roots of the main plant.
    Note the words “gnaw” and “dig” in Benson’s commentary.  Those are the words that aptly describe what the little things do to your psyche on a daily, if not hourly, basis.  It is the repetition of those annoying habits, the knowing that this won’t be the last time you’ll be hit in the face with a blast of cold water or you’ll have to pick up the stack of magazines that has toppled over onto the floor or bend down to place Anna, Elsa and Starlight Pony into the plastic bucket by the tub that wears you down.  It is the gnawing and digging at you that drives you to stick your head out of the bathroom door and announce, “When I grow up, I’m not living with any of you, I’m going to live by myself, so I can do what I want to!”  I don’t think there’s any fear of that.  Nobody in our family has grown up yet.