BIKE FOR CHRISTMAS

Ken said he had decided to get me a bicycle for Christmas. I forced a big smile and tried to make the words “thank you” sound more like “Wow, that’s great!” than like “What were you thinking!!?” I said I needed to ride it before he buys it. He said the store wouldn’t allow that and I said yes they would. He said he doubted it and I said, “They haven’t met me yet.” 

Eventually we found a bike low enough to allow my feet to touch the floor, but the wheels were too small for me to navigate easily. I said, “This just isn’t going to work.” We did the rest of our shopping, and neither of us mentioned the bicycle again. Until two days later. 

He said, “Let’s go bicycle shopping again.” What part of “This isn’t going to work” did he not understand? Maybe he thought we’d work it out somehow, but there’s working out how to do something, and then there’s working out what a woman is really thinking.