Fight Nice Like Ray and Debra
By Katie Moosbrugger
Ah, love quarrels. You know how it goes. Sometimes you and your spouse (or significant other) know each other so well – and are aware of every little button available to push – that you can actually bicker – and stand your ground – without uttering a single word. Quarrels like these can go on for days – or longer – over the silliest of things. And lots of times no one knows you and yours are at odds over anything because life is just peachy otherwise.
One of my favorite episodes from Everyone Loves Raymond features Ray and Debra silently fighting over a suitcase on the stairs. Do you remember that episode? Well, keep reading because I have some humorous real-life “silent fighting” stories of my own to share, and I’m hoping you do too!
In case you’re not familiar with the ELR episode I was referring to, here’s what happened. Ray and Debra went on a trip, and when they came home, one of them left a suitcase at the bottom of the steps. Debra insisted Ray carry the suitcase upstairs, and Ray insisted Debra should carry it upstairs. Neither assumed responsibility for the suitcase on the stairs, so it sat there for weeks as they both walked past it on their way upstairs day after day.
I don’t remember how the show turned out, but I’ve had my share of silent fights too…and they don’t always end in my favor.
Like the time we had a beach chair in our backyard for weeks. I know for a fact my husband set it up and left it there. I have never sat in a beach chair in my backyard, and I am pretty sure my kids never did either since they could barely carry the thing. I saw it sitting in the yard and let it go for a couple of days thinking my husband would put it away, eventually. Then the days turned to a week, then weeks, and then we both started asking each other to please put the chair away, but neither of us budged. We were both adamant that it wasn’t our own responsibility. My daughter and I even caught my husband mowing the lawn AROUND the chair. It became ridiculous. So who won that fight? Well, I can be hard-headed, but I’m also anal – and I couldn’t take it anymore so I put it away.
A few weeks later a friend on Facebook posted a similar “silent fight” story …and kept us updated for days. She said her husband and kids created a pile of mess in the family room (I think – from what I remember – it was cut up paper from a craft). She waited for them to pick up their mess for days, and no one did. She decided not to say anything and see how long it would last. For days afterwards, she posted updates on her Facebook page saying, “The pile is still there.” She said everyone was just walking around it like it was supposed to be there – even though it was smack in the middle of the floor – and it was a huge inconvenient mess. I don’t remember how long it lasted – and if she wound up cleaning up the mess after all – but I do remember thinking, “How can she stand it?” Hilarious.
So what about you? Have you and your spouse ever had a “silent fight”? What was it about, and how did it turn out?
