The Tie
When my parents are in town and my husband has to work, they’re always excited to turn on the television in the evening to watch Hubs’s news report. And so last Friday found my family sitting dutifully around the TV at six sharp, waiting for Hubs to come on the air.
I’ll admit it gives me a thrill when people are visiting to have a husband who works in television news. It’s just kind of fun to see him pop up on the screen and basically tell us what he did with his day. As I heard the anchor introduce my husband, I smiled in anticipation, waiting for his face to appear on the screen. And…
Well… I don’t really know how to write this… Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting what I saw…
Need me to be more specific?
O.M.G.
Mercifully at that point, Hubs tossed to his video and I was left to ponder his choice of clothing.
Ordinarily, Hubs’s taste in fashion is fine by me. I like a man who doesn’t fuss with his appearance and Hubs definitely fits the bill. The majority of his wardrobe consists of khakis, button down shirts, and conservative suits and sport coats.
However, once or twice a year it’s as if Hubs declares his own personal Halloween. He’ll pull out his bolo tie, for example, and wear that to work. Or his ushanka. Or his coral pants. Or he’ll head out to coach a girls’ soccer game in his Santa pajama bottoms. In February. So his decision to wear a plaid shirt with a plaid tie wasn’t completely unexpected.
But did he have to do it while my parents were visiting?
The video ended and we were treated to another visual of Hubs and his now-infamous (in my mind, anyway) Dueling Plaids. When the camera switched to a cross shot of my husband chatting with the anchors, you could see that they were as disturbed as I was.
I sighed when Hubs signed off, looked over at my parents and shrugged. They both knew better than to comment, but my mom couldn’t hold back a small giggle. Hubs called me a few minutes later.
“Did you see my story?” he asked.
“Yes, but I have no idea what it was about,” I said.
“What do you mean?” he asked innocently.
“MY EYES,” I said. “THEY WERE BLEEDING. What were you thinking wearing THAT TIE with THAT SHIRT, Hubs?!”
“Oh that,” Hubs said. “Yeah, I was sure I’d brought my red tie to work, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. So I had to borrow one of Alan’s ties again, and that was all he had.”
Alan is the weekend anchor and Hubs often borrows ties from his cubicle. “He really has some beautiful ties,” he’s told me admiringly in the past. “Some of them look really good on me.”
“And what does Alan think about you wearing them?” I asked Hubs.
“I don’t think he knows I wear them,” he answered.
This time, though, Hubs couldn’t resist telling Alan that he’d borrowed one of his ties and gotten hell for it after I saw him in it on TV.
“I told Alan about the dueling plaids,” Hubs said last night, “and do you know what his response was?”
“Let me guess,” I said. “Quit taking my ties without asking me!”
“Wrong! He said, ‘I’m so sorry that was all you had to choose from. I’ll have to bring in some more.'”
And he meant it.
Of course, that was incredibly nice of Alan, but Hubs is always coming home with stories like that, of acts of kindness from the people he encounters. I think it’s because he’s a genuinely good guy with a big heart, and he makes me and the kids feel loved every single day. And when it comes down to it, I’d rather have a husband who is devoted to his family and does this…
…than a snazzy dresser who seems more into himself than others. Not that dressing well and caring about others are mutually exclusive.
In fact, with that in mind, um…
Hubs? If you ever decide you’d like someone else to take over the clothes shopping for you, you know, to ease your burden?
You know where to find me.
