www.itminddesign.com

When my “geek” husband would work late and he would call asking, or I would call to ask him if he wanted, me to bring him dinner, I would always ask, “Does anyone else there want anything? I’ll bring them something too.” Naturally, this was not a problem but what I thought funny was some of the comments that the guys and sometimes gals, would say. The one comment that stuck with me though was when I heard one of the guys saying that they wish their wife would do things like this for them. I thought, “Well did you ask them?” I never said it out loud, but I did think it.

I often would wonder about what the spouses or significant others of the people that worked with my husband thought about when their loved ones were working late. I would sometimes think that they were sitting at home with the kids making sure they were doing their homework and getting the kids ready for bed in preparation for school the next day. Additionally, there were some people that did not have kids that I would think about them. What were they doing? The funny thing that came in my mind one time was the spouse sitting on the couch, watching a romantic movie and eating bonbons while their loved one was working their hind side off. I would chuckle at that, come back to reality,and thought well maybe they are too busy to help out. I would keep asking myself the question though I never came up with an answer.

I think some of the “geeks” think that we spouses don’t care about what happens with their work, hence the comment like ‘I wish my wife would do things like this for me’. Surprise! Some of us do care what happens to them while at work and the work they do while there. I used the bringing dinner to my husband when he was working late as an example of things we do care about. I ask husband how his day was, if anything interesting happened that day, and he usually answers me with the things that happened. I’ll ask him about a project he is working on and he will explain what he’s doing and explain what it does. I don’t claim to understand every single thing he talks about but I do listen to him and I do care what he does. He enjoys his job, well most days, and that’s important to me. I talk my about my day and he listens to me, so I’m sure there are spouses or significant others out there that talk about their days and you listen to what they have to say. Why not ask them if they would like to hear about your day? I know you may not think they would like to hear about it, but it may surprise you when they start listening to you and start asking you questions about what does that thinga magiggy that you were talking about that you worked on that day do or how does that whatchamacallit go from one place to another that carries that stuff to everyone. We may not get the terms right or even know all the names, but it is kind of amazing at times to think that we do care about what goes on. If you’re not amazed, you can at least get a good laugh out of the names we call the things we try to understand.