This Precious Life

You know how guys can seem to be such quiet, shy creatures from outer space? A lot of wives and girlfriends have secretly told me they are the opposite when no one else is around. Men can be quite the talkers, it’s true.

A few months ago, a married woman gave me relationship advice. She said, “No matter what he talks about, be interested.”

My jaw dropped. I said, “but what if he talks about exciting xml-rpc standards?”

She looked at me with the narrow eye. She said, “My husband works for the army, he takes care of army trucks. Do you think that the mechanical components of trucks have always fascinated me? No! But I learned. I learned about army trucks. That is how you will have good communication with your man.”

My jaw dropped further and my eyes turned googly. I need to sniff Minyak Angin Cap Kapak. I looked at the boyf who was innocently chewing on a chicken-wing while chatting with her husband, probably about xml-rpc or trucks. I looked at her again and took a deep breath. I gave her a brave nod.

I said, “I will learn about xml-rpc standards.”

“Good.” She smiled.

Update: Right after writing this post, I received an email linking to a page about improving your listening skills. I especially like Tip #2 and #3.