If you like Piña Coladas...

Have you ever ended up in what felt like a comedy of errors? I was talking to a friend the other day and she was complaining about how she and her husband just can’t seem to communicate anymore. She went on to tell me about what happened on Saturday morning. He was sitting there watching TV, she told him she was going to the grocery store. No acknowledgement whatsoever. She returns from the store to find him not home. Mildly curious about what was up with that, she debated if she should call him or not. In the end, she decided it would seem like she was being a nagging wife if she did. Thus, she let it be. Sometime later, he returns with a ton of stuff from the store. Complaining all the while about it being her job to shop, next time she should give him a list, etc. She had no idea what he was babbling about. Turns out, he, for whatever reason, had thought she had wanted him to go to the store. And he wasn’t sure where she’d gone or why. Yikes, major miscues there. She then goes on to tell me this isn’t the first time he hadn’t heard most of what she said. They had gone for a weekend trip a few weeks ago. Pulled into some little knick-knack shop, wandered around for a bit. She needed a ladies room in the worst way, the shop didn’t have a public one. When they stepped outside she spotted a fast-food place next door, great. She tells her husband that she’s running next door and why, as she’s placing her purse in their car. Tells him she’ll be right back. She gets out of the fast-food place and no longer sees their car, she looks around for a moment, puzzled. She finally starts walking around the parking lot of the shopping area, trying to find her wayward husband. Spots him across the street, driving around and waves him down. He was angry at why she disappeared. Like she’d done a ‘beam me up Scotty’ or something. She’s fuming, he had her purse so she couldn’t have been somewhere shopping without him. I’m trying not to laugh at this point in her tirade. It’s clear she’s frustrated with her husband, he’s probably feeling the same way. Okay, maybe not, men don’t seem to be bothered by the same things. Yet, somewhere along the way of finding each other, having kids, raising kids, seeing kids off to college, this couple seems to have lost each other in the process. In every sense of the word. So, I tell her she needs to follow the advice of the ‘Pina Colada’ song. She screams, “I AM NOT HAVING AN AFFAIR!” as she shoots daggers at me with her eyes. Whoa, hold up here. I know, I know. Most people don’t know what the lyrics of that song are. They miss the main point – “It was my own lovely lady, and she said, ‘Oh, it´s you’, And we laughed for a moment, and I said, ‘I never knew’.” Yup, it’s all about finding out what your mate likes and who your mate is. So on this Valentine’s Day, turn off the TV, the phones, the tablets and everything else electronic. Sit down and relax. Do something few of us do anymore – talk. Face to face. You might be surprise at what you can learn…