Round 2

So I decided to buy the MP3 player that Evan has been going on about.

This morning I said to Hubby in the dining room, "I think the earbuds that come with the machine aren't going to be comfortable, do you know anything about earbuds?"

Evan, from the living room, says loudly, "There is nothing wrong with the earbuds that come with the machine!"

I respond, "I just have not had good luck with earbuds. I think my ears are too small or something."

Evan, "Well, the ones that come with the xxx are good."

Me, "May I try yours on?"

He gets them. I have a little difficulty. He tells me that I have to put the correct one in the correct ear. "How can I tell?"

"The one for the right ear has an R on it."

"All I see on both of them are two half circles."

"Well the marks have mostly rubbed off."

"So which one is the right one?"

"THE ONE WITH THE R ON IT."

"Which one is that?" (This said with a deep breath, slowly and calmly.)

"THIS ONE" he holds it within inches of my eye.

I put them in, or try. I take them out and say, "No. They just feel too uncomfortable. I will have to try something else."

He walks off saying loudly and sarcastically, "Well I guess you are just special. Geez, can't ever use..."

A little while later I get out the computer and start to look up ear phones. Again I ask my husband if he knows anything about small ear phones. He starts to answer and Evan says loudly, "X company makes things that last forever. Their stuff is always good."

"Okay. I will look those up."

"GAWD. You are so...I don't know what the word is...needy? No that is not right."

Me grinning (while thinking he is looking for "obsessive" or "anal") say, "No 'needy' is not the right word."

"When will you be done with all of this? I mean we have been doing this for a week!"

"No. I have been doing this for a week."

"You can't say that I have not been helping."

"Only because you have been jumping in."

"You've asked me for help!"

"I don't think I have."

"You asked me if you could try on my earbuds."

"Well, yes. I did. But I don't recall asking for anything else. You have been offering assistance, but I haven't been asking."

"Oh don't try to make this about me. This is about you. You know it."

"The decision is about me. You are right that I have been spending a lot of time debating every single thing, but your participation has been completely optional."

"You asked!"

"No. You've been jumping in."

"Well, then I will leave you alone." This said in a very hurt and angry voice. He turns back to his computer with that "If you don't want to talk to me then I won't talk to you" attitude.

I am torn between wanting to comfort him, slap him, and leaving him alone to deal with the emotions himself.

I choose to leave him alone and blog out my frustrations.

Up side: I kept my cool and only spoke in calm friendly tones the whole time. Although he probably would have coped better with me yelling.

__

Just now he got up from pouting on his computer and I said, "Should we leave at 1:00 to get your clothes?" He said "yes" in a relaxed voice. I guess we both manage to move on fairly quickly, although I would not be surprised if his MySpace site quickly has a rant about his psychotic aunt.