Blog: The other half's most vexing habits (From Chorley Citizen)

Blog: The other half's most vexing habits

3:08pm Monday 4th February 2013 in Helen Mead By Helen Mead, Lancashire Telegraph columnist

I was pleased to see the following words on a list of the ten things women find most annoying about their partners.

‘He goes to the toilet with an open door’.

Why? Because my husband never closes the door, and I hate walking past and seeing him there, relaxing with a magazine. “You wouldn’t sit on the toilet at work with the door open,” I tell him, to which he replies: “I never go to the toilet at work.” He does, of course, but only in the access-all-areas bit.

Interestingly, that was the only thing on the ‘most annoying’ list – compiled by an online dating site – that applied to me.

Laziness came top, and I would occasionally endorse that. Last Saturday, for instance, I asked my husband to do ONE thing – pick our cat’s tablets up from the vet’s before it closed at noon. I was rushing around all morning and when I returned at around 1pm I glimpsed a large shape in a dressing gown and knew that the simple, yet important, task had not been completed. But overall I can’t complain, as my husband does pull his weight around the house. I can’t say he’s a cheapskate or whiney either, and he doesn’t tell embarrassing jokes or dress poorly.

My list would include using the f-word too much – sometimes I think I’m living with Gordon Ramsay – and talking during TV programmes. When I’m watching tennis, he will constantly ask inane questions such as “Don’t they have to drink Robinson’s Barley Water?” and “Why are they allowed to sit down all the time?”

Compiled by a dating agency, the ‘most annoying’ list, is interesting in that it highlights the differences between the way the sexes see each other. Both find not cleaning up, being too close to parents and poor hygiene annoying, but men are far more critical of their partner’s appearance, including having an unattractive body and having too much body hair on their list. I’ve got more body hair than my husband, but other than on my toes, where I wear my hair in a small scrunchie, he doesn’t seem to mind.

The list was drawn up to alert couples as to how easy it is to succumb to temptation, and what steps you can take to avoid your partner straying. From nagging to snoring, my husband would probably list seven out of the ten points on the men’s list, so there’s no quick-fix solution for me. However, if he strays he won’t get far – I had him microchipped along with our cat!