Strange Occurence

Mr. W.........to say he's a home body is an understatement.   I sometimes envision his life like he lives in a Habitrail....trudge to work, trudge home, trudge to his garage, trudge to work, trudge home with the exception the summer trudge to Drum Corp.  Remember that commercial years ago?  .."Time to make the donuts."

He is an honest man, a man of integrity and a good provider.

He is also a man of few words.    He thinks I talk too much and sometime evokes the 15-second rule.....  One day I think I will purposely blather on to see if  a man in a black and white striped shirt bursts from the closet to remove me to the locker room for going over the time limit.



Heaven forbid, be spontaneous?  Not Mr. W.  He has a routine.  Everything is planned and maybe it is good he shops from home because you really don't want to be in a mall with him.   Straight in, straight out.  It frustrates friends far more than it frustrates me.   I would no sooner want to try to change him than I would want him to change me.  Others may not understand, but he is content in his life.  So here's what happened...Monday night...

      Mr. W.   - "I'm going to Hibatchi's Restaurant tomorrow at lunch."
      Me - "Hibatchi's?  Where's there a Hibatchi's? I've never been....."
      Mr. W.  - "Let's make arrangements to meet for lunch at 11:30."

OK - to the innocuous reader, that little exchange is no big deal.   Let me just say that in over 37 years of marriage we have never ever MADE arrangements  to meet for lunch.  Trust me, I'll give you my kids emails and numbers, ask them.   He is a happy little man in his own little world that doesn't like to socialize.  He was so excited last year to realize he can order his socks, and t-shirts, etc. from Amazon all from his iPad and never has to leave his garage.  He is a recluse; a hermit in the making.  His idea of lunch out with me is when I trick him into taking me to Home Depot and I suggest lunch....he will say, "I'll wait in the truck while you go to the wienie wagon."


Years ago we went out to dinner and he was so physically uncomfortable that I thought....hey, this is good enough.   If he is willing to put himself through this much pain just because I want to go out, then that is all I need to know.   We are a strange set....two cogs in the Thompson Household Factory turning independently with three great kids, a really dumb cat, a green yard with mulched flower beds, a declining balance on the home equity loan and closing in on retirement.

But then the conversation continues -

     Mr. W. - "Bring a friend if you want."

Ok, ok, confusion on my part.   Am I being punked?   Does he have something to tell me?    Why should I bring a friend?   Are his bags packed to go join the circus?  Is he a secret mole....there was that issue of dual citizenship and he has no official birth certificate!   Is this an opposite sketch?  Is he announcing his retirement?   Does he want to go to the Serengeti and climb Kilimanjaro (which is not a stretch in my house since my s-in-l made that announcement one day and then did!)

So I go.  Fearful not to go, because if he is branching out, I don't want to be the one to discourage him.  I take my girlfriend LuAnn who has never met Mr. W.  Guess what, it was just lunch and a pretty tasty one at that.  Ever so out of character for him, and I am still intrigued.   Is he adding more avenues to his Habitrail?  Do I see more lunches and possibly even dinners out????  I enjoyed the lunch but on my way home last night I did stop and buy a Powerball ticket using my lucky numbers from my lunchtime fortune cookie!