Saint Daniel Strikes Again

Dan bought me a hairbrush about 10 years ago for Christmas. Dan was so pleased with himself when he presented it to me. He felt that he had chosen the perfect brush, and the brush became a symbol of his love for me. This was too bad because it was an awful brush. It pulled my hair and scratched my scalp every time I used it. I used it though, despite the pain (and without complaint), because I knew that he thought it was special. Over the years, he has often mentioned what a great job he did in buying me this perfect brush.

Dan normally keeps his hair short. Very, very short. He doesn't need a brush. However, he was too busy this summer to get his hair cut. As his hair grew, he started using my brush. He complained to me what an awful brush it was and expressed surprise that I had used it for so many years. I confessed my hatred for the brush. And then we talked about things that were far more interesting, like who had to cross the street to pick up the kids from daycare.

Saturday was the twins' birthday party. In the morning, we were going to be super busy. There were 4 adults staying at our house, and all of us required a shower before the party. Also, the three children needed to be bathed. And we needed to pick up the cake. I decided to wake up before the rest of the household and have my shower first.

After my shower, I opened my drawer and reached for that awful brush. Nothing. I searched the other drawers, and came up empty-handed. I was baffled! Where could my brush be? Then everything started coming together in my head.

I marched into our bedroom, made sure Dan was awake, and very calmly said "I'm going to ask you a question and I need you to think long and hard before answering. Where is my brush? Wait! Is it possible that you may have put my brush where I have just put your electric toothbrush?". My loving husband looked up at me from the bed and said with puzzlement "You put my toothbrush in the garbage?".

Yup, the garbage! My husband thought to himself "I hate this hairbrush. She hates it, too. I shall throw it out! She will be soooo happy!". He did not replace the hairbrush first, he did not tell me that he had thrown it out. He simply tossed it and walked away... right before we were throwing a party! I was less than thrilled, and this surprised him.

As for his toothbrush, I should have thrown it away. I should have tossed it and not have given it a second thought. But I didn't. Why? Because it occurred to me that this is an item one uses daily, often several times a day. One does not wish for someone else to throw these items out without prior knowledge or consent. The loss of these types of personal grooming items cause great inconvenience, and a wee bit of self-consciousness when one has to do without.