Selective hearing

The other day, I listened with one ear to a report on a morning news program talking about how men have trouble hearing women. One of the men talking about it stated that the female voice is difficult for a man to physically hear. (At least that’s what I thought I heard.) I always thought G didn’t pay attention to me because his mother is one who will talk and talk and talk. She is reported to have once had a thirty minute conversation with a wrong number on the telephone. I just assumed he had gotten in the habit of tuning people out. And as he gets older, his hearing is deteriorating so hearing is more difficult.

Today I was trying to explain why the dryer was not working as it should have. G is not a repair man. His usual method of fixing anything, and I do mean anything and everything, usually involved a hammer. Needless to say, I am not a fan of this method. I was graced to grow up in a family where both parents were handy, but my dad was a real "fix-it" man. By tagging along with him, I picked up some valuable skills along the way.

The dryer knob had separated. The inner knob just turned freely so that it did not really indicate what cycle you were using. That happened about a week ago, and I never saw the reason for doing anything about it. That was until today. Now I am lucky that G does his own laundry here at home (at the Double S and B, that’s not the case), and that’s how the trouble started. He put his load of clothes into the dryer and set the timer. After about two minutes, the dryer happily buzzed indicating that it had done its job. And it had. It was set for about two minutes, unbeknownst to G.

I went in - mostly to deflect a situation that could involve a hammer. I moved the dial around several times and determined that it was not going to show what time had really been chosen. G came in to the utility room and declared that was the exact setting he used. Told him that it was ok, and he left. I removed the knob, and he came back. That makes me nervous. I struggled with the knob and got the inner knob reattached to the turning outer knob. I replaced it and was told "That’s where I had it, and it went off after two minutes!" I tried to tell him what had been wrong, and what I did to fix it.

He again said "that’s where I had it." I tried to explain again. He still wouldn’t listen to me. Finally I picked up a bottle cap and a roll of transparent tape (I know, I’m a slob for having those things laying around.). Being the creative teacher I always have been (snort!) I assembled a dryer know system. He finally listened and understood. MY, my, after a mere thirty seven years I got him to listen to me.