It must have started a year or two ago.
My husband asked if I could get him a glass plastic cup of water, and I did. I handed it to him and he looked at it, and then up at me, and then back at the cup, and said, “Seriously?”
To him, I hadn’t filled it enough. At the time, I was exasperated. Seriously, him. I had gotten him water, and so what if I hadn’t filled it exactly to his specifications?
But I do try to listen and improve, even if I think he is being ridiculous overly specific. So the next time I got him a cup of water I filled it more. I remember being conscious of filling it more, because I wanted to be a good listener. I swear on cheesy nachos that I only meant to please him, I wasn’t trying to be snarky or passive aggressive. And yet, when I handed him the cup, he said, “Seriously?” and the issue this time was that I had filled it too full!
Again: exasperation.
This is not about my apparent ineptitude when it comes to filling cups, nor is it about my husband’s apparently very narrow definition of a full cup. It is about the bit that has resulted from it.
Now, if my husband gets ME water (in a glass), he fills it to the absolute tippety top.
The other night right before I went to bed, he got out the Brita to fill his coffee maker. I had a glass on the counter that was maybe a quarter full and I asked if he could fill it (otherwise, I would have to wait until he filled his coffee maker, refilled the Brita, and the Brita did its slow water filtering job before I could fill my glass). He poured a little bit into the glass, making it – to my eyes – about three-quarters full.
“Could you please put a little bit more in than that?” I asked him, and then turned away to finish filling the dishwasher. (This is why I was asking him to get me water; I was otherwise occupied.)
When I was done with the dishes, I went over to the end of the counter to grab my glass and go up to bed. And I noticed that he had filled it all the way up to the top – so full that the glass looked empty.
It just cracked me up. I could not stop laughing. I don’t know if I am properly conveying just how full the glass was, but I clearly could not move it without spilling it all over the counter or anything. It was the kind of full your middle school science teacher used to demonstrate the power of surface tension. I had to sip carefully from the edge like I was a dog or a nine-year-old proving that all your years of careful etiquette teaching have been for naught. The whole thing made me howl with laughter until tears were leaking out of my eyes.
“I could have probably filled it even fuller,” he said. “Next time.”
I don’t know why it tickles me so much, this stupid little bit that he does now. It’s just one of those completely ordinary things that you do almost every day, usually without thinking, and now it will always be funny. The glass will either be too empty or too full and it completely cracks me up.
Do you have any stupid bits with friends/family?
my husband and I have funny little things like this too. I kind of like them. It’s a love thing!
I have two bits that kill me every time.
1) My husband makes tea in our house. When he’s out of town, I just go without because I honestly don’t know how long to steep it or what kind of sweetener to use. When I want another cup of tea, my job is to put a teabag in my mug next to the kettle to indicate that I want a “teafill.” I am frequently doing multiple things in the kitchen and put my mug next to the kettle without putting the teabag inside the mug. This sends mixed messages to my husband and he’s forever confused about whether I want a teafill or not. There is constant hilarity over this in our house.
2) I don’t know how this started, but one of my nieces thinks one of our extended family members is the King of England. Sort of. She knows she’s being teased about it, but it’s clear that there’s a little part of her that thinks he *might* actually be the King and she’s super polite and courteous to him. The whole family is in on this now and when he’s around her, we refer to him as King Andy and it is funny every time.
Teafill! That in itself is adorable.
I feel deeply invested in the King bit – how did it start, who maintains it and how, etc.
That is too funny. I’m sure we’ve got some but, of course, I can’t think of them off the top of my head.
One thing I do know is that if either one of us utters the phrase, “Sweet Pizzz Pizza” we both howl with laughter. I’d say it’s a long story, but it’s really not. But we are both convinced that it was a “you had to be there” kind of story and that no one would find it as funny as we do.
I just love those dumb jokes that make sense to no one else!
This is so funny! I love the little run-on jokes that keep things light.
We have many of them and other people might find us weird, but who cares.
One of my dear friends, we used to practice yoga together in the very early mornings. This is mysore-style practice, so not exactly a CLASS, but that we are all practicing the same postures, but at different times. I don’t know if this makes sense, but there is a teacher in the class to sort of help with different postures, but it’s perfectly quiet and lovely and we are all just working on our practices. ANYWAY. I was always one of the first ones there and if there was a space beside me, my friend would come to roll out her mat beside me so we would be practicing side-by-side. Years ago, she rolled her mat so that it was EXACTLY beside my mat, like there was no space between our mats. It cracked me right up, and she just silently got on her mat and then did a sun salutation before moving it. Every time after that if there was space, we would each do something similar to the other, or just silently step a foot on each other’s mat, just once. I haven’t thought about that for years, because obviously we haven’t practiced together since before the pandemic.
Every once in a while when we’re brushing our teeth at the same time, I’ll start mimicking the motions he’s doing – or he, mine. So that we’re brushing exactly in sync. It dissolves me into uncontrollable giggles Every. Time. I don’t know why it started or why it’s so flipping funny, but it is!
The bit with my husband is me not always understanding when he is joking about something. I am “literal” Lisa so he will say something, I will take what he said seriously, he’ll say he was joking and I will say “sometimes it’s hard to tell.” This happens so many times you’d think I would get more of his humor. I’m also known for saying “that’s not funny” because he has a more irreverent style of humor than I do!
Hahaha, my husband does the same thing. He always fills my glass to the rim and I always ask if he could fill it up just a tad more LOL
I love this bit! And how much joy it brings to you and your husband. We have a similar bit in our family, but we go the opposite way. If someone asks for a refill, we’ll pour in a splash and say “That good?” And then the other person will roll their eyes. 🙂
THIS. You have found your person. You, and everyone else who commented and shared their own “bits” with their loved ones (doesn’t matter if they’re partners/spouses/others – if they’re your people, you have your bits :>). Reading about these kinds of relationships makes me so happy. (Plus, honestly, it’s hilarious!) <3