Yeah right. Here’s how the conversation with the LTR went as I was heading out the door to work the other morning.
LTR: We (meaning Al) need to order the xxx for [kitchen appliance].
(Said part was broken on her watch, so to speak)
Al: OK, why don’t you either call [the store where we purchased said appliance] or get on line and see if you can find the replacement part.
Al is not stupid. I understood the underlying message that it was my responsibility to find the replacement part and to do the repair work. I’m not playing that game.
LTR: That’s not what I meant. You need to do it.
Al: You’re a competent individual. Take care of it.
LTR: No, it should be the man’s job.
Al: I see. You’re my equal and can do anything I can do when it suits you, but also need me to do the handyman work that you don’t want to do.
LTR: It’s not like that. I do xx and yy in the kitchen, and you fix what I need when it breaks. It’s an equitable division of labor. (said with a straight face, no less)
Al: Really. You break things and I fix them. The history of the human race in a microcosm. I see how it is. You want equality and special treatment? You don’t see anything wrong with that?
LTR: Not at all.
Al: Sure honey, I gotta go. You take care of it.
Mind you this is the same woman who has spent hours on-line searching through china patterns in order to identify the name of said pattern and to find replacement parts. And when I say hours, I mean at least half a day.
