My buddy Stan has a habit of dropping things off when I am not around.
Last spring, he returned a rotor-tiller that was not mine and I never did find out who it belonged to.
I once returned home to find a bulldozer napping in my yard.
And earlier this month, Stan dropped himself off.
“Daphne kicked me out of the house,” he whined.
“Well, you can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are unstable, unreliable and untrainable.”
“You really think so?”
“It makes no difference what I think,” I said, “it is what my wife said the last time Daphne kicked you out.”
“I’ll prove her wrong,” he said.
And he did.
I have never seen Stan so reasonable, reliable and well-mannered. He helped with the cooking. He did the dishes. He made himself useful around the house.
He started with all the little chores my wife has been nagging me to do for months. He hung pictures. He cleaned the garage. He fixed a big crack in the sidewalk. He got all of our major and minor appliances humming in perfect harmony.
It was like night and day.
With all the little things taken care of, there was nothing for my wife to nag me about and the instant she thought of something new, Stan was right there ready willing and able.
It was not natural.
Things got so extreme that Stan started watching The Bachelor with her on Monday nights while I watched cowboy movies in the basement.
In desperation, I called Daphne.
“You got to take him back,” I told her.
“Fat chance,” she said.
“Don’t you miss him?”
“It is peaceful here now,” she said.
“But that is just it,” I told her, “it’s too peaceful here. Our house is becoming like the Hallmark Channel and I fear the worst.”
“That is scary,” she agreed.
“Couples need to crab at each other,” I told her, “they need conflict to balance out their happy times.”
“Uh-huh…” she said, not believing a word.
“Think of it this way,” I said, “happiness is like water seeking to become level. When life becomes too peaceful, you know there is a tsunami building somewhere. People are simply incapable of living without conflict. It would be like all Ying and no Yang. Sooner or later something has got to blow.”
“Interesting theory, “she said, “it might explain the calls I keep getting from your wife.”
“Huh?”
“She calls twice a day begging me to take him back.”
“I am begging too,” I said.
“All right,” she relented, “just drop him off…”
I thanked her.
“But when you do,” she said, “make sure I am not around.”
Almost Iowa 
Well ✒ penned👍👍👍
Thanks for the reminder that marital bliss is only half of the story. I tend to believe in fairy tales and feel sorry for myself when they turn into soap operas.
What do I do? My Yang shot my Yin, and my Yin is still in the hospital. I need her back cause I am tired of doing my own dishes.
🙂
Please , please , please send Stan here. My apartment needs a LOT of fixing!
Your friend Stan sounds like quite the character. If nothing else he’s a muse for your writings..:)
“People are incapable of living in peace.” That’s the absolute truth, and enough to keep scores of philosophy professors busy for the rest of their lives.
I’m glad Stan took care of all the chores for you, but also glad you got him out of the house before he caused any real troubles. As much as I sometimes long for a husband who did all the chores without being asked, never watched mindlessly violent television shows and actually put his clothes away now and then, the husband I prefer to live with was the one who was chasing a possum around our garage last night, swearing and tossing things around as he tried to convince it to leave. That’s the life I’m used to, even if it isn’t particularly peaceful!
You got problems with possums too? Ugly suckers, ain’t they. I don’t chase or swear at them, I just reach for my shotgun and they run like hell. I don’t even know if I would shoot anything that ugly – but hey, they don’t know that.
If only we had a shotgun handy…. Although on the upside, we got our garage cleaned out in the process!
Send him over here. I have lots of little chores around the house that need doing! 🙂
We have been getting a lot of requests for Stan’s services after I published this post. I will work you into his schedule. Right now, we are looking at June 16. 2023. Would you prefer morning or evening?
Either. Put me down in case there’s a cancellation 🙂
Maybe next time, she can (chain) put him in your shed.
Oh Lord, Noooo. No more in my shed, please! I have 30′ X 60′ of bric-brac, old car parts, projects gone wrong, save-this-we-will-need-it-one-day and Oh-that-is-so-cute-wouldn’t-it-look-nice-in-the-yard….. And now you want to add a Stan. 🙂
I’m sorry. I forgot how much stuff you have out there.
Even after the tell-tale warning: “My buddy Stan…” I still found myself deep in the willing suspension of disbelief. That is, until you said Stan was watching the Bachelor, voluntarily.
That’s just not right Greg, we’re supposed to be keeping things light here. That’s just…wrong.
My muse told me to put that bit in about The Bachelor. I resisted but she insisted.
He sounds an interesting character – and interesting isn’t always good to have around.
Interesting characters are a lot like grandkids. You love it when they show up. You have a great time with them and then are equally as glad to watch them leave.
As a grandfather myself, I have to agree with you.
Start a story, “My buddy Stan…” and I’m in. Although his helpful demeanor really caught me off-guard.
But that is just it, Stan is utterly unpredictable.
That balance thing reminded me of our childhood teeter-totters. I can see it all: Stan way up there in the air, and you with your end right on the ground. You know what to do. 🙂
Oh yeah……and won’t his teeth rattle when he hits the ground after I jump off? 🙂
Good one, Greg. I think Stan belongs back home.
He belongs in anyone else’s home but mine. Though he is welcome in my stories.
🙂
Good one! Made me chuckle! 🎶Chtistine
Pleased to oblige. 🙂
Love IS strange. 😉
It is and with Stan involved, it is stranger still.
You made me laugh and left me thinking deeply. Thank you.
Wonderful, it is what I try to do.
I was about to write, “Send Stan my way.” But then I read on and decided that he could stay in Almost Iowa.
The phrase, “Send Stan my way” is almost always followed by “on second thought”. 🙂
You got me laughing and so distracted that I spilled an entire glass of water all over my kitchen table and floor! At least I know half my table and floor underneath are sparking clean. 😂
Thank goodness, you were not drinking cranberry juice. I tried writing a Stan story while doing that and the rug will never be the same.
There’s a Hallmark channel?
There certainly is. When there is nothing but slasher movies on Starz, my wife will flip the remote to either HGTV or The Hallmark Channel. That’s when I flee to my man-cave – though yes, I have enjoyed a movie or two there.
Lol. I get it! I love how you get it. And make it a fun story. 😉
You get it. I get it. Stan will never get it. It’s what makes his stories so fun.