Last night, I came home from work and supper was 15 minutes away, so I sat down to catch up with my kids. Wife gave me her usual chaste hug, which I hardly noticed. I’ve been withdrawing time and attention lately because her behavior has been so consistently sub par. I have to leave after supper to drop my son off for a meeting. This conversation occurred at the dinner table.

Wife: “So, what do you do in town while sonny is at his meeting?” Me:” I usually hang out at a coffee house and read, or sometimes a bar if there is a ballgame on.” I answer indifferently. It’s no secret. Wife: “Oh. Well, I was going to ask you to give me a ride so I could try out some new eyeglasses, but I wouldn’t want to interrupt your reading time”. (this was delivered with a little bit of petulance).

I shrugged, and finished my dinner. Took son to meeting and hung out at the coffee house for an hour. Later I was marveling at this little bit of female manipulation. Instead of coming right out and asking me for a ride, (which I surely would have agreed to, as it was a completely reasonable request), wife tried to shame me into asking her to please, pretty please let me have the privilege of shuttling her around. I then got to thinking how many times in the past had she used such tactics to get me to give her what she wanted, and have me thank her for the privilege, and I went along with it? The answer is, too many. Had this happened pre-Redpill, I would have gotten offended, asked her to please let me take her, and then later would have been left with a bad taste in my mouth, feeling manipulated but unable to put my anger into words. I would have seethed and pouted and maybe picked a quarrel.

As it was, I had myself a good laugh thinking about it. I suppose she will sulk. I suppose she will tell her friends what an insensitive creep I have become. I suppose she will make a point of asking someone else to give her a ride, instead of condescending to ask me. But I don’t care. I’m doing Me. And Me says, “I have standards. If you want a favor from me, the least you can do is ask. If you cannot bring yourself to do that, either it’s not that important or you don’t respect or like me very much. Either way, not my problem.” QED.