The fight or flight response in men

Is usually quite subdued

Unless you’re watching TV with your wife

With one remote between the two

Then the fight or flight response in groom

Meets the fight response of bride

Tensions can bubble to the surface

An enjoyable evening denied

In our home the channel hop

Does not constitute a foul

It’s the muting of commercials

For when I fail I get a scowl

I can’t say that I blame her

I never listen to what they’ve said

It seems that I’ve adapted

And have a mute button in my head

It’s really quite effective

The noise just disappears

Till the stink eye burns a hole in me

And reactivates my ears

At that point I give up my rights

To possess the remote control

My incompetence precludes me from

Performing the sound editing role

I think that there are a lot of men

Who’ve adapted just like me

A mute button to find a quiet place

When in a quiet place we’d like to be

So ladies when you draw a blank

It’s not you that we’ve ignored

You have to push our mute button

For our hearing to be restored

Copyright 2010 Patrick A. Granfors