\u201cYou know how to get something from Kathleen?. If I should up with a pack of Marlboros, she is always happy to see me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Scottish boss was getting ready to introduce me to our team member Kathleen for a project. As he reminisced about times he\u2019d worked with her, he dropped this story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like a scene from a black and white movie during world war 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was a kind man. Is it such an old-fashioned custom to learn one another\u2019s small pleasures? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He knew how his wife took her coffee. I\u2019m not sure all Scottish men are so considerate, but this is the stuff of romance novels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am thinking of the world of choice I live in. There are dozens of coffee beans, with a specific grind. Not to mention the brand of creamer. If I had to explain my preferences to someone else, it would be so precise as to be embarrassing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to pressing the buttons on the coffee machine in the precise combination to provide exactly the sort of beverage I have become accustomed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I could not presume to ask someone else to make me a cup of coffee in the way I like to drink it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yet this sweet man from Scotland had paid attention enough to a co-worker\u2019s cigarettes. His old world charm is overwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have created an isolated prison with my specificities. Is that precision worth it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is inconvenient to invite another person into my sphere. Sharing my home, and my sleeping arrangements with my husband requires compromises. I had to learn to arrange the bedding to give both of us what we need. He had to learn to sleep though the alarm I set for early morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes I snore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes he snores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course we could sleep separately, and avoid the inconvenience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we have decided it is worth it, so be close to one another, and let our lives overlap even if it\u2019s not what I precisely want. The connection is worth adjusting my allowances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is it possible that I could change my requirements so that another person could join me in my coffee habit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chris doesn\u2019t even drink coffee. I asked him how he would like his coke.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attention and to compromise are a formula for the kind of romance I want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYou know how to get something from Kathleen?. If I should up with a pack of Marlboros, she is always happy to see me.\u201d My Scottish boss was getting ready to introduce me to our team member Kathleen for a … Continue reading