ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Culture
DOMESTIC DIPLOMACY
Nelson woman Kara Watson, 33, has once again perfectly executed one of the oldest household traditions known to humanity: only wanting a cup of tea if someone else is already making one.
The breakthrough occurred at approximately 7:18pm when Kara overheard the sound of the kitchen kettle as it boiled water, which she had not instigated herself.
Without missing a beat, Kara reportedly responded from the couch, “Oh… I’ll have one too, if you’re making one.”
The sentence was delivered with the casual confidence of someone making an extraordinarily generous compromise.
“It’s not that I need a cup of tea,” Kara later explained. “I just happen to become interested in one the exact moment somebody else has committed to all the work.”
Shaun said he’d seen it coming.
“The funny thing is, five seconds earlier she had absolutely no interest in tea,” he said while locating the good mugs. “If I’d stayed sitting down, we’d both still be here watching TV. But the second I stand up, suddenly she’s remembered tea exists.”
Shaun admitted he’d briefly considered pretending the kettle was only for himself.
“I even thought about quietly boiling it and hoping she wouldn’t notice,” he said. “But kettles are louder than jet engines when you’re trying to be discreet.”
More to come.
