For my American audience (but the post will also intrigue my international readers), this blog reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of the Ray Romano hit show, Everybody Loves Raymond. Ray and Deborah go on a vacation. When they return, Ray leaves the suitcase at the base of the stairs. He clearly anticipates that Deborah, his wife, when cleaning, will take it upstairs. She, on the other hand, looks at it as Ray being lazy. After a few days of them both looking at it (passive aggressively) and daring the other to take it up, Ray finds the biggest, stinkiest piece of blue cheese he can find and stuffs it in the suitcase thinking Deborah will smell it and take the case upstairs. Instead she takes out the cheese and leaves the case as is. They end up having Marie (the worst mother in law in TV history) tell them a story about the big spoon and fork (long story) and Ray and Deborah then fight over who will take the suitcase upstairs. Whew! But there is a moral to this story oh gentle readers. Let's see if this segue works: It's this. If you put your mate's needs first, it will not only make you happier but it will also make your mate happier.
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