the nothing argument

if you are in a relationship, for at least say...6 months or so, you are probably familiar with the following conversation:

girl: how was your day?
boy: fine, how was yours?
girl: fine...nothing too interesting to speak of. i'm doing _______ now.
boy: oh well, i don't want to interrupt _________.
girl: no really, it's ok. i called you.
boy: ok.
girl: so how was __________ yesterday?
boy: why do you have to nag me about __________? it's fine ok.
girl: well you are the one who asked me about ________ in the first place!
boy: because i was trying to be nice!
girl: well don't try, ok! you always do that, and it drives me crazy. why don't you just ______!
boy: because you always ________! this is stupid, i have to go.
girl: me too, bye.
boy: good. bye.

the beauty of this conversation is that the roles are interchangeable, and the blank can be just about any act, occurrence, project, emotion, tv show, book, party, movie, person, food etc. when you date for a long time, it seems that once in a while, you just can't stand each other. and it's nothing personal, you still have respect for each other, deep down you still love each other, but at that moment, there isn't anyone you'd rather speak to less.

i used to be of the belief that you needed to immediately talk through it, get the misunderstanding figured out and come to an agreement that you are just in a bad mood. but as i've matured, i've come to realize that the best cure for this situation is to just leave each other alone...for an hour, a day, a week (that might be a bit too long, if you are going a week without speaking, i think the problem is larger than this)...whatever it takes to get your brain clear of the gunk.

(the next day)
boy: hi! how are you? how's your day going?
girl: oh, it's going fine...i'm really busy ________, but it's good.
boy: that's good...well not that you are busy, but that you are having a good day.
girl: thanks. did you sleep well last night?
boy: yeah, did you?
girl: yeah...i did. want to get dinner or watch a movie or something tonight?
boy: definitely, i'll call you later.

and yes, the argument is over. no need to make it more than it is...just take some space and let it lie. it is true that female pms may be a key factor in this scenario, but then again so could male pms. we all have our moments, we just have to learn to deal with each others. that's the joy of a relationship, actually learning to relate.