My Right is Your Coffee Pot's Left

My wife says the cutest things.  Her use of the phrase "Snuggling the Rim" instead of "Hugging the Curve" while speeding along an exit ramp once has made me smile every time I think of it.

With her permission, I will be starting a non-consecutive series of posts dedicated to L-speak.  While waiting for said permission, I will risk an uncomfortable 24 hours (or more) by sharing the latest L-ism.

In our house, we make two pots of coffee; one flavored for her, one non-flavored for me.  Until I went away for a week, we had a robust and simple protocol.  Mine was on the right, while hers was on the left.  Apparently, this changed so that she could use the newer pot on the right during my absence.  This has led to some confusion since my return.  Yesterday, I drank flavored coffee by accident.  She also drank flavored coffee, but not by accident.  The ratio of non-flavored to flavored java had reached an uncomfortable level.

My short-term memory is so poor that, by the time I was ready to leave for work, I had already forgotten that the coffee maker on the right was flavored despite the earlier mishap.  I poured some into a travel mug and dumped the rest down the sink drain before tasting it.  When my wife went to pour her cup for the road, she realized my error and pointed it out.  At which point, she promptly dumped the non-flavored coffee down the sink drain. 

Unfortunately, I had already made mine sweet enough to make both L and my dentist cringe. We were both left without our precious last cup.  And everything counts. It was truly a lose-lose situation.

This morning, we were both cautious around the coffee counter.  I even considered setting the alarm to get up early to make big signs and color code the machines.  Instead, we decided that we simply needed more communication.  

"Which one is mine?" she asked.

"The one on the right," I replied.

"Which right? Your right?"

Since her right and mine were the same, it was clear that we were not alone.  I hadn't realized that while I was away, the coffee pots had taken on a life of their own.  They apparently now have their own unique perspective from which relative locations could be referenced.  This might be extremely useful for everyone were L's coffee pot to give mine some directions.  To me.