[Mr. and Mrs. Monday] Sacrifices

4.29.2013

Getting married requires sacrifices. Sacrificing pride for compromise. Alone time for quality time. Girl time for gender-neutral time. Spending money for responsible saving.

Regardless of how big or small, sacrifices are a regular occurrence in married life.

Take, for example, hanging laundry. In Korea, dryers are a rarity. Thus, most apartments sport fashionable curtains of colors, sizes, and unmentionables. We're no different. In fact, if you were to walk into our apartment right now, you would find a broomstick and a Swiffer stick lying across our closet doors for a makeshift drying rack for our shirts.



Based on a discussion of our household chores (a blog post on that later), I voluntarily chose to be in charge of the laundry. I don't mind it (unlike a lot of people I know who passionately despise it). I've done my own laundry since high school, and I am quite particular about the way I do it too. I didn't think this was a problem until one afternoon when I was hanging some shirts.

"Woah, woah, woah," Mark said, hands up. "What are you doing?"

Indignantly, I replied, "Uh, hanging laundry...duh. What's the problem?"

"That's why the neckline of my t-shirt is always stretched out. You're putting the hanger in wrong."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

He, then, proceeded to tell me that you're supposed to put the hangers in from the bottom. I replied that that was too difficult. The hook, the corners, they get caught on the way up. He said it didn't matter. It had to be done that way. All of his shirts were involuntarily turning into hipster v-necks that showed too much of his chest hair. I said (after laughing, of course) that this is the way I've always done it.

I had two choices to make in that moment. I could either be stubborn and refuse to do it his way because it required a little more effort than my way. Or I could just concede and make him happy.

I chose the latter.

I still hang them my way for my shirts...but I'll go the extra step for him. Who wants an unseemly amount of chest hair in public? No one.

Did it kill me? No. Is it annoying to insert the hanger from the bottom? Maybe. Does it make him happy? Yes. And that's all that really matters.

xoxo,
Elysabeth

3 comments :

clara yoon said...

Haha aw i love this!! especially the last line, going that extra step for the one you love :)

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

That's exactly what happened to us! Except... I was Mark and JM was you. haha :P