"Don't Make A Scene"

He hissed.

She had just said, in a very loud, clear and steady voice: "So that's what it is, you're ashamed to be seen with me?"

She was an attractive, 30ish woman. Not petite, but nothing near an unhealthy weight, especially considering her above average height.

He was a bit shorter than her, perhaps it seemed that way because he was acting small- and if one were to describe his appearance as an animal type one might pick weasel.

Was it her attire? A black stretch v-neck sweater, complimentary, not revealing. She was "womanly", no denying that pleasant fact. They were going to Menards.

I left this little melodrama that was taking place in the parking lot of that home-improvement store- I had seen this play a few too many times before. There is a sub-class of men who seem to enjoy publicly humiliating "their" women. When I was working nights in the University district years ago, there would often be shows like this, especially near the frat houses. The weaver and I overheard one of these dialogues while hiking along a hedgerow in West Sussex one fine summer's day. The man seemed to think that an error in gardening by his spouse deserved a full dressing down. I've never fully understood these cheap theatrics about inconsequental issues that some men (and women as well) seem to relish. Of course it is really about something else altogether- the need for dominance in a sexual relationship.

Recently, there was in interview on TV with a couple that had been married 82 years. The question that you knew would be asked was asked: "What is the secret of being happily married for so long?"

The woman's answer was quick and concise: "He never put me down."