I’m interested in the small, unreasonable exemptions we make for the person we’re with. Take loud chewing. Coming from somebody else, it can become the only sound in the room. Coming from my partner, apparently it has the necessary permits.
The noise hasn’t changed. My ears haven’t received an upgrade. I just know who’s making it, and that information seems to settle the matter before my usual irritation gets a hearing.
It’s a remarkably selective system. I could describe myself as someone who hates loud chewing and remain completely sincere, provided nobody asked a follow-up question about the person eating beside me.
I don’t mean something upsetting that I’ve learned to swallow because we’re together. I mean an ordinary little habit that ought to annoy me, based on all available evidence, but somehow doesn’t. The sort of thing I might barely register until someone else does it and I discover that my standards are still very much in operation.
There’s something funny about having such firm preferences and then quietly issuing one person a permanent exception. No application, no review period. They’re simply allowed.
So I want to know what other people’s exceptions are. What does your partner do that you tolerate easily, even fondly, when the exact same behavior from anybody else would have you considering a different seat?
