Friday, September 30, 2016

RELEASE THE CONTROLLER

Steven and I have been watching separate T.V.'s for years, mostly because we had vastly different tastes in shows. But recently we decided we wanted to spend more time together so, here we were, sitting on the couch while Steven channel surfed.
“Can we please just land on a show and watch it?” I begged. I was getting dizzy as Steven flew through the channels, rejecting them before I even had a chance to see what was on.
“There's nothing on,” he complained.
“Good, then give me the controller.” I said, holding out my hand, waiting to see if he'd actually give it to me. “I can always find something to watch.”
“It's not your night to decide.” He reminded me. “I'll find something.” he said, going through the more obscure channels and stopping for a longer look-see at the Golf Network.
“Please don't.” I begged as I watched some guy picking tiny pieces of something off the green, setting up to make his putt. “Do you even know any of the guys that are playing?”I asked.
“It doesn't matter.” Steven sat up straighter on the couch and pointed to the television. “I bet he can't make this putt!” He said, sounding as if he had money on the game.
I sat patiently as Mr. Golfer did everything but dig a trench to the hole. The tension and anticipation mounted in the announcer's whispered voices as they explained each step Mr. Golfer was taking.
Of course, by now, I'd closed my eyes to wait until a thunderstorm blew thought the game or the guy finally made his putt, whichever came first.
I'm not sure how long I'd been dozing when I woke up and the game had only moved to the next hole. The same amount of non-excitement was going through the hushed crowd.
It was then that I heard a familiar sound coming from the other end of the couch where Steven was laying. It was faint, but I still recognized his snore.
Sitting up, I looked over to see him fast asleep, but still clutching the controller tightly against his chest.
Getting up slowly, I tip-toed over to him to try and gently pry the controller from his grip. I wasn't even touching him yet when his eyes popped open. “What are you doing?” he asked, tucking the controller behind his pillow.
“Oh, come on!” I complained. “You're not even watching television anymore!”
Steven kept his hand behind the pillow. “I might not be watching but I was still listening.” he reasoned.
“You were snoring!” I said as I sat back down.
“Well, then, I want to thank you for waking me up.” He pulled the controller out from behind the pillow and adjusted the sound to be a bit louder. “I didn't want to miss this putt.”
“Don't forget it's my turn to have the remote tomorrow.” I reminded him.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, I have an appointment tomorrow night.”
“You what?” I sat up straighter. “That's not fair!” I cried.
“What do you mean?” he looked confused. “It's still your day to have the controller.”
“I know, but clearly half the fun of having the controller is being able to make the other person watch shows they have no interest in.” I pointed to the golf game.

Steven shrugged his shoulders then looked over at me and smiled. “What can I say except it's a win-win for me.”

1 comment:

  1. Are you sure you're not spying on us?! This sounds EXACTLY like me and my husband. "I may not be watching, but I'm listening..."

    ReplyDelete