The War of the Shower Shoes

There’s a great movie, The War of the Roses, starring Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, and Danny DeVito. Although 33 years old, it still plays well today. It demonstrates. to the extreme, how one-upmanship between husband and wife can turn ugly real fast. 

In the past 24 hours Joan, my wife, and I went through a similar, although much less dramatic encounter. Unlike in the afore mentioned movie, in our case, nobody died.

Before I get into the details, I offer this warning;

Guys! The day before Valentine’s Day is the worst time to attempt to play a prank on your wife of 57 years. If it goes bad, the climb back to her good graces could be tough.

It all started with my wife’s placement of her wet shower shoes. She had a habit (I doubt she’ll ever do it again!) of hanging the wet shoes over the faucets of the 2 sinks in the master bath. One of the faucets is mine. To my sensibilities, there’s something “yukky” about it and I’ve asked her repeatedly not to do it.

Well, yesterday morning there it was. One yukky shower shoe covering my faucet. “I’ll show her”, I said to myself, and decided to send a strong message by placing both shoes between 2 pillows on her side of the bed. 

I didn’t know they were that wet!!!

Now it’s bedtime. As I walk toward the bedroom, I see my pillow sitting on my recliner in the living room. I picked it up and carried it into the bedroom and asked Joan why my pillow was in the recliner. She immediately uncorked her anger —- 

“You’re sleeping upstairs!”

“My pillows are all wet!”!  

Somewhere in the rest of the tirade I recall hearing the phrase, “packing my bags”. 

Fortunately, the tirade was brief. I responded with silence, tucked myself in on my side of the bed, and soon all was quiet.

Our local grocery store has a phenomenal selection of live flowers and gift cards. That was my first stop this morning after my workout.

Now, see the photos below.

I knelt as I handed her the peace offerings. Being the kind and forgiving person the she is, Joan kindly forgave me, and we put the memory away surrounded with laughter.

If your marriage it strong, it can survive wet pillows and shower shoes. 

Although the prelude to this Valentine’s Day was rough, it now stands as the most memorable in our 57 years together.