This is how families function :
Wife (to the husband, sitting in the same room) : Listen, when I go out this evening, please remind me to go to the tailor and also while returning, to collect the library books. Okay, please?
Note the decent tone and niceties.
Husband, almost as if even before wife has finished the sentence, (to the elder chap, in another room) : Kid, when mum goes out today, she has told you to remind her to go to the tailor and get the book. Don’t forget to remind.
And gives a smug smile to the missus, meaning see how efficient I am. You said it, I implemented it.
Note how the please has been dropped and delegation handled.
Elder chap (to the younger girl) : Hey, listen, if you forget to remind mum to get the book from the tailor, no dinner for you.
Note the wayward one-upmanship of elder brothers.
All this within seconds of wife telling the first fellow and all within wife’s earshot, as if to remind her at every step.
Finally, mum sets a reminder herself.
And goes out for dinner. No, not with the tailor. But then, how are we to know?
Mum’s Off to Dinner
