Spouse Quality, #4: Cleanliness

It's a fact of life that when a bunch of women get together (I'm assuming that men also do this), sometimes conversations will focus on the deficiencies of their husbands.  One of the complaints' "biggies"  is Levels of Cleanliness.  It would seem that 99% of men were never taught by their mothers how to pick up their dirty laundry and wet towels!

How do the wives handle this?  Let the laundry lie on the floor and accumulate?  Hardly ever!  Most women are too neat to be able to tolerate this; they pick it up themselves.  I've heard, "Well, he has so many good qualities, I can overlook this.  I don't mind."  Some also relate, "I'm tired, too, and I deeply resent having to pick up after a grown man."

Once in a great while, one of the wives will praise her husband who pitches in to help with housekeeping.  What a gem that man is!  And how very much he will be appreciated in every way possible!!

In spite of laundry messiness, most men have personal cleanliness.  That is, with the exception of a man we'll call "Harry."  His wife, Ellen, found it hard to believe, that after they married, "Harry takes a shower once a week, summer or winter, whether he works in the yard, which he does nine or ten months a year, or not.  If he gets sweaty and dirty, which he frequently does, he will just towel off.  His showers don't last long.  Nothing I said ever mattered.  Once a week, Saturday night, that's it for Harry.  It didn't take long for intimacy with Harry to be a real problem for me.  Then I realized: even the car smelled like Harry.  It was too much!  Our marriage ended in divorce, but his lack of cleanliness was the least of our problems."

Word to the wise to those considering a person to marry: division of housework is something that must be discussed before the permanent commitment to marriage!  Don't ever assume that because a person you're dating is always clean and well-groomed, he or she will keep their living space neat.  You have to see for yourself where they live!  Don't forget: the person you're dating looks the best you'll ever see him or her!  Date them long enough so that they'll trust you so much you'll come close to seeing the 'real' person!

Dear Lord, the big universe you created is quite orderly.  Help us keep cleanliness and order in our part of the world!