Tissue Paper

So, misunderstanding stink. Anyone care to disagree? Paul and I realized a bit too late on our trip to Washington that we had a misunderstanding with some friends, which meant we ended up not being able to see and visit with them. We were bummed since we haven't seen any of them for more than two years now. Sigh ...

I wish misunderstandings didn't have to be so frustrating. I know when Paul and I have misunderstandings, it usually results in an argument of some kind until we realize that there is a misunderstanding.

I have had one misunderstanding, though, that was the perfect misunderstanding -- perfect because it wasn't frustrating at all, and ended up being rather hilarious once we discovered it. Let me explain ...

After Zachary's birthday party two years ago I started cleaning up when the doorbell rang. It was my dear friend Julie. I had just folded down the gift bags he received and folded up the tissue paper to put away. When I invited Julie in I set down the tissue paper as I walked into the other room. She looked over and said, "Oh! I just bought some tissue paper from Costco, too." I told her that I really hadn't purchased any for a while, because I just re-use it. She asked in a surprised voice, "You re-use it?" I said yes. She looked puzzled and said, "How do you re-use it?"

Well, this didn't seem too strange for me, especially when I knew Julie wasn't any more into spending money than I am. So, I explained that I just folded it up and put it away until I needed it again. She again looked puzzled and asked how I folded it. I said I just folded it however I wanted to and stuck it somewhere until I needed it. Anyway, I could tell this was not getting through to her, and I was confused about why this was so puzzling. Whatever. We dropped the subject and went on w/our playdate.

Well, I was so confused by the situation that when Paul got home I told him about this weird conversation I had with Julie. He just started laughing, and again I was felt clueless. I asked him what was so funny. He asked me where I had set down the tissue paper when Julie came in. I said behind the couch. He said, "And what is behind the couch?" I went and looked, and right behind the couch under my tissue paper was a huge pack of Costco toilet paper, which they call tissue paper. OH! Oops. No wonder she was confused when I talked about folding it and putting it away until I needed it again. Gross!

I called Julie to explain, and even when I tried to clarify it took her a little bit to understand what I was talking about. Finally I made it clear that I don't re-use toilet paper, just tissue paper for gift bags. To this day I laugh whenever I think of our tissue paper misunderstanding. Paul says that is waht you call a perfect misunderstanding. Why can't they all be as fun as this one about tissue paper?