Misunderstanding

Last week Br and I had a little disagreement. I won't bore you with the gory details but will say that as the discussion progressed we both realized that some of the problem was just due to a misunderstanding. It reminded me of a roommate conflict I had to deal with when I was a resident assistant.

There were two girls who shared a room but were on very different sleeping schedules. One girl was hearing impaired. On mornings when she got up first she would be very careful to get ready in the dark so she wouldn't wake up her sleeping roommate. Despite keeping all lights off, she would blow dry her hair right next to where her roommate was sleeping. The second roommate hated this and didn't understand why the first roommate would be so loud and inconsiderate. To try and make a point, on mornings she woke up first she would creep around the room as quietly as possible. Although she moved in near silence, she would sometimes turn on a little light which would immediately wake up the first roommate who was light sensitive due to her impairment. Despite both girl's efforts to be considerate, each girl hated the other because they felt the other was so rude. I guess the letter of the golden rule doesn't hold true when the needs/desires of the individuals are very different.

In short, what I need to remember from this situation is to give my sweet husband the benefit of the doubt and recognize that he always has the best of intentions even if I don't want to see it that way.