Hi Folks,
The article wasn't written about RVing,but it reminded us to relax and adapt.
It's by Mick LaSalle, the movie critic in the San Francisco Chronicle, here:
http://blog.sfgate.com/mlasalle/2014/06/13/why-couples-bicker-on-vacation/Excerpts:
Here’s the real reason why couples fight on vacation: If you’re in a long-term
relationship in which you live with another person, every aspect of your life,
from the alarm clock until bedtime, has already been negotiated. It might not
have seemed like a negotiation at the time, because it wasn’t formal, but it
was a negotiation all the same. Who gets up first, who makes coffee, who throws
out the garbage, who cooks, who feeds the animals, who walks the dog, who
cleans the cat box, who washes the clothes, who folds the clothes, what movies
are watched, who drives the kids, who picks up the kids, what items can be
bought without consulting the other (e.g., a pair of pants) and what items
cannot be bought without consulting the other (e.g., a car).
In virtually every live together relationship, there is one person who locks the
doors before bed and another who just goes right to sleep. And this will be the
pattern for decades. It will never change.
...
So suddenly all the implicit negotiations are irrelevant and they find themselves
in the realm of active negotiation. And so they’re annoyed and can’t believe they
have to go through this, just to do a simple thing like eat at the hotel’s breakfast
buffet, etc.
Part of the way to NOT argue, I think, is to recognize where you are, which is
uncharted territory. If you realize that you really do have to negotiate everything,
because that’s the nature of going to a brand new place, you will have more patience
with the other person and not feel like it’s such a big imposition to make your case.
We really enjoyed this. Does it resonate for anyone?
Bill
