Five Quirky Things: Part V

For today’s fifth and final installment of Five Quirky Things We’ve Taught Each Other, I’ll be sharing about how to make spaghetti sauce in thirty minutes, and Beth will let everyone know that it’s okay to wear the same clothes two days in a row:

5. Michael’s List: Spaghetti sauce can be prepared in thirty minutes.
One late afternoon, Beth called while she was driving home from work. “Can we make spaghetti for dinner tonight,” she asked.

“No honey. We don’t have enough time. We’ve got to be at church by 6:30.”

“That’s an hour and a half.”

“Right, and spaghetti sauce takes all day ,” I said.

“Well, maybe it takes you all day, but I can make the sauce in thirty minutes.”

“Impossible! There’ll be no comparison. Making spaghetti sauce means cooking it in a crock pot for at least six hours.”

“Have you ever tried it this way? You just think it takes all day because that’s how your mom has always done it.”

“Ok, but if it doesn’t turn out we’re not trying this again.”

“Yes, honey. I’ll see you when I get home.”

Later that evening, Beth and I sat down to two hot plates of spaghetti complete with dinner rolls. I carefully inserted my fork and twirled on some noodles and sauce. Slowly I lifted the delicate morsel to my mouth.

Suddenly I was sitting in a Venetian café. There was a young man with curly black hair dressed in a white shirt and black slacks. Carrying a tray over his head with one hand, he raised his free hand in a flourish saying, “Benvenuto Italia!”

“Beth! Who knew,” I exclaimed. “This is fabulous! Your sauce has a whole bouquet of flavors I’ve never tasted. The mushrooms, the garlic, the meat. They all taste so . . . so fresh, so rich, so alive! I love it!”

“That’s how we do spaghetti in the Brown family. It’s a quick and easy meal,” she said, and I’ve never thought about spaghetti sauce in the same way since.

5. Beth’s List: It’s okay to wear the same clothes two days in a row.
After getting married one thing I learned about Michael is that he does not own very many clothes. He rotates through a pair of jeans, one pair of khakis, one pair of forest green convertible pants and about five shirts. It’s not uncommon for him to wear the same thing two, three or four days in a row.

Does this mean that he does laundry at least once a week? No. He wears his shirts three or four times before washing them, and his pants can last over a week.

I remember when I first started to notice this pattern. One evening as we were going out, I asked, “Michael, didn’t you wear that shirt yesterday?”

“Yep, and I wore it the day before too.”

“That’s gross!”

“It’s not gross. I don’t sweat much, and I’m not a smelly person.”

“But what about body oil,” I protested.

“I’m not oily either,” he said.

We had a couple more conversations just like this one, but Michael’s persistent defense began to wear on me. I had to agree that he doesn’t sweat very much and his clothes don’t smell either.

The only remaining bridge I had to cross was the simple fashion taboo of it all. Yet, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don’t remember what my friends wear, so why should I worry about them remembering what I wear? So, during one particularly busy week spent with friends and at different events and venues, I was looking for something to wear. “Why don’t you wear what you wore last night,” Michael suggested.

What he said made sense. Casting my fashion anxieties to the wind, I confidently put on my outfit from the night before. There was something freeing about this. So much so that I’ve done this on numerous occasions since.

Conclusion
This morning as I finish putting together this post, I’m sipping on a cup of Earl Grey and wearing my green convertible pants with the same sweat shirt I’ve worn in the office all week. Earlier Beth left for work with a hot cup of English Breakfast Tea. This past Tuesday night, I used Wrinkle-Shield while I dried my clothes. The first time I saw Beth this morning she was drying her hair with purple ear plugs in her ears.

Last night, as we ate our Valentine’s dinner, Beth smiled and said that she feels like everyone knows our “secrets” now. She wondered if anyone will notice the next time she wears the same outfit twice in one week. I mentioned how proud I am that we’ve been able to work together to publish this five-part series. This is especially significant considering how much Beth hates to write. All-in-all we hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into the secret world of Michael and Beth. Hopefully we’ve made you smile or even laugh.