The Plot

My dad used to comment when he went shopping, how there was a plot against him. He would joke that just as he got to the front of the line, a cashier needed to cash out, or one of the managers needed to do a pickup of some money. My dad used to joke that at one point he was truly convinced they did this just because they knew he had gotten to the front of the line and it was a plot against him. Of course, he eventually came to the realization that while it was frustrating, it was not by design.

The other day my mother-in-law called while my son was doing homework. My wife had just got him to settle down and focus on his work after about a half hour struggle with him insisting he was not doing it, when the phone rang. That was it, my son was no longer focused on his work. He talked to grandma and then refused to go back to his homework.

My wife was absolutely convinced that this was a plot against her. She knew her mom had figured my wife had just got the little one to calm down to do his work and she deliberately called just to distract my son. I heard her complain how she had just gotten our son to settle down and didn’t her mom know better.

Only difference was, unlike my dad, my wife never realized that this was not the case, although I can appreciate the frustration of trying to refocus him on his homework.