Briefcase on the Kitchen Table

A few days after the wedding Avery and I decided we were running low on supplies and needed to make the newly-wed pilgrimage to the nearest Walmart. We knew going in that it was going to be quite an educational trip. I don’t care how long you have been together; chances are you have not discussed toilet paper preferences until you have had to purchase the tissue together. So, off we went, wandering through the aisles with more questions being asked than a championship Jeopardy game. Which scent do you like? Are you ok going generic on this? Wait, you like that? And then we came to the aisle that may have ended the marriage before it even began; syrup. It started innocently enough. Avery reached up to the top shelf for a tall bottle with a faux-wood motif. “Log Cabin?” I ask with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah… why do you like something else?”

“Ummmmmmm…” I point out the delicious nature of Hungry Jack because you can heat it up. Avery replies, “Sounds good.” It could have ended there, and all would have been fine. But then it happened. Avery reached in front of me for the Hungry Jack REGULAR. I put my hand over Avery’s before he took the bottle off of the shelf. “Honey,” I said, “ do you not eat Lite syrup?” and the look on Avery’s face was as though I had just asked him to eat slugs. I swear by Lite syrup. It is the perfect balance of sweet and maple without being overly sweet. And so it began, the five minute back and forth about syrup. We finally walked away with the Hungry Jack regular syrup, our first full exercise in marital compromise; my brand, Avery’s type. We were both happy with the choice. It was a lesson for both of us in what it means to share your life with someone completely, to live together, to actually live the what’s-mine-is-yours mentality. Sure it was just syrup but I think we were both pretty happy with ourselves for compromising with no arguing, no tension. We had OUR syrup, not jus mine, not just his. I know it will not always be that way; we will come to decisions that we both feel very strongly about on opposite sides. For right now though, we will keep learning about one another, through all of the little things that only living together can teach. I can’t wait until we get to the really heavy stuff, like what size Christmas tree to buy.