Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for February 03, 2016

“If I’m going to talk to myself, may as well be by myself!”

Women love to talk. Men don’t.

It’s not that we don’t like to talk, we want to solve problems. When my wife just wanted to vent about her lousy workday I would space out as well, she felt better being able to unload and didn’t much care if I was really listening or not.

Same house, different worlds.

Empty nesting takes courage and practice.

My husband wears hearing aids – my voice is right in the range that he can’t hear. I either talk too loud, unaware his hearing aids are in or talk too soft – opposite problem. either way, 1/2 the time he doesn’t hear me and one of us repeats what I’ve said

My Mom used to mutter, “Talk to myself!” every once in awhile, when I was a kid. Come to find out my Dad needed hearing aids. I mutter, " Talk to myself!" now, but it’s because my husband is very quiet (one of our sons inherited that ability) and if I’m not looking at him, he can leave or enter a room and I’d never know.

The comment probably needs refining. In general I find that men like to talk when there is something that needs discussing, and with someone who is equally interested. Otherwise they’re happy not saying anything. Women will talk for hours even when they’re with someone who isn’t interested.

I’m going to fix coffee, would you like some?

The squabble over gender chattiness inclination reminds me of the old joke where the preacher asks the farmer “Do you love your wife still?” and the farmer answers “Aye, that’s how I love her best!”

We just finished sharing a puzzle, something to do together and talk about….

Husbands sometimes don’t notice when their wife is talking to them, but they sure notice when they stop.

I think sometimes that we men do zone at times but there is since a peace that we just relax while our woman talks. I think him following her is that it’s not about activity rather it’s about the company.