Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Ian Hates "The View", So He Installed Speakers in our Bathroom.

A lesson in compromise and adjustment.

After almost three years of living together, Ian and I have our morning "dance" down. I know when he is a little grumpier in the mornings and he knows when I'm a little more neurotic. I know when I can go in for morning cuddle time, and when I should just bring him a water and ibuprofen instead. It's a dance that we have perfected and I highly recommend learning your dance and practicing your dance. Starting the day off on the right foot makes a huge difference in your day to day demeanor. So our usual go-to morning dance looks something like this:

That's me on the laptop with a coffee, Ian with the iPad, and the cords on the wall are cords from our wall mounted TV that drive me crazy and that Ian was supposed to find a way to neatly conceal and organize. He's bought the cord organizer and concealer and it's been sitting in it's packaging on top of the wicker shelf in the corner for MONTHS.

 We make an conscious effort to not fight, argue, or annoy each too much in the mornings. The biggest "debate" we have is which one of us is going to get out of bed first to let Bijou, our dog, out. This is what she looks like when waiting for us to make that decision:

She is very serious in the morning.

Before Ian and I lived together, I had a morning routine where the TV and TV programs played a large role. When I would wake up, the TV would go on and stay on until I left the house for the day. Depending on the time of morning I would wake up, the channel would be on either the morning local news on the channel that the Today Show came on (I have a slightly unhealthy love for the Today Show, Matt Lauer, and Ann Curry), The Today Show, or The View. I would turn the bedroom TV and the living room TV onto the same channel so that as I walk in and out of rooms during my morning, I wouldn't miss anything. My morning routine, which has been the same for 12 years, was "adjusted" when Ian and I decided to share a home together.

Since we keep different schedules, I would usually be awake and functioning way before Ian would be. In respect to my new roomie, I would tip toe around the house and be as quiet as could be in the mornings.

Fast forward to about two years later, I decided that I needed to have my programs on in the morning when I get ready. On all of the TVs in the house. I respectfully kept the volume lower on the TV in the bedroom, however the volume on the TV in the living room needed to be at a level so that I could hear it in the bathroom while I got ready for the day. And then one day, we had this conversation:

Ian:  Why do you watch this crap?
Bree: What crap?
I: The View and The Today Show?
B: It's not crap, it's entertaining.
I: No, it's convoluted advice and information that's brainwashing you.
B: Really?

That day, I learned that Ian cannot stand the voices and opinions of the women on The View while they all talk over each other and act like their own opinion is the only opinion and the correct opinion at that. He feels that I, and every other person that watches the show, become misinformed and basically "dumber". I explain that I, for the most part, do not agree with majority of the conversations that are had on The View. Let's face it, Whoopi Goldberg is grumpy and rude, Joy Behar is grumpy and rude, Sherri Shephard is misinformed, Barbara Walters is getting nuttier by the day, and Elizabeth Hasselback feels the need to argue with everyone because she is the only conservative voice on the show. And I hate her voice. However the show is called "The View" and I watch it for that reason. I want to hear other people's point of views on different subjects, even if I disagree with said point of view.  I also watch it for the "Hot Topics" and guest interviews.

Anyways, one day, Ian comes up with a brilliant idea. What if he could find a way to stream the sound from the TV in the living room into the bathroom? That way he wouldn't have to hear the women of The View and I won't feel like I'm missing anything. What about a speaker connected from our surround sound placed in our bathroom? Could it be? The perfect solution? How to kill two birds with one speaker? Sometimes I think I live with a genius!

So that is the birth story of our speaker in the bathroom. It does a great job and everyone is happy and we all live in a yellow submarine beneath the sea. It's true. Minus the submarine and sea part. And sometimes I forget to tell company that we have a speaker in the bathroom and it totally freaks them out when out of nowhere, they hear a voice from behind the toiletries. I need to work on remembering to warn them, maybe even create some sort of signage. "Do Not Be Frightened By the Person Speaking From Behind the Hand Towels."

It is also one more reminder on the importance of compromise, adjustment, and being non selfish in your relationship. Instead of bitching about what was annoying him, Ian saw the chance to tell me that my choice in television programs sucks, and he adjusted by finding a compromise. Instead of rolling his eyes and making smart ass comments every morning, he used his little balding noggin and created a solution that makes us both happy. And our guests think it's really cool that they can listen to music while on the pot. Sweet.

Look for those chances to make your loved one happy. It doesn't take much. It took Ian 15 minutes to install a speaker in the bathroom. And those 15 minutes he spent that day, make me happy every morning, every day. Thanks babe!

Bree




2 comments:

  1. What an inspiring post -- and an adorable dog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Melissa! And my Bijou is a sweetie. She is a pit bull rescue and I've never had a better dog:)

      Delete