Mandi, Tasha, (Mandi's Sister,) and her mother Donna are huge fans of the Ace and TJ Show outta' Charlotte. Well I get a call Friday Morning around 9:35am from Donna stating that Tasha and Mandi were on the Ace and TJ show this morning talking about push presents and apparently talking about me and how "Mandi wears the pants in the family." That's all I knew. At that point in time I had no idea what was said, who said it and in what context it was used. I was flying blind.
BACKSTORY
In my house there has not and will not ever be any "pants" worn. We, (or I,) don't believe in that sort of "Make my dinner woman slash Civil War Family" theory. I have always given Mandi all the freedom she wants as long as it does not interfere with the upbringing of our child or effect our family system. I clean laundry because I have time to do it. I cook cause I'm always hungry and don't mind doing it. I clean and try to keep the house straight, because well, it's the first house we've owned and two, Mandi likes it when the house is straight. That is her big tiff. She goes nuts if the house is scattered so I try to keep her happy by not being a guy and leaving shit everywhere. I stay with my kid on the weekends not because of obligation. Not because Mandi expects me to. Not because I HAVE TO. BUT BECAUSE I WANT TO. I am one father who refuses to miss a moment with my kid. My father did the same for my sister and I and he "wore the pants in the family." I could die tomorrow and could say in almost two years I never missed an opportunity or moment where I have to say, "man, I wish I would've been there." Anyway, there are many people that because I am that way, think that I don't wears the pants or I'm not a manly man. Whatever.... BACK TO THE STORY.
So I have ten minutes to defend myself before their show went off the air on Friday. I threw together an email based solely on the idea that Mandi and Tasha stated on Public Radio that I didn't wear the pants in the family and that basically Mandi got her way. I emphasized that the reason Mandi doesn't get gifts are this, this, and this and that I resented the "pants" theory. I sent the email about five ‘til ten which ultimately sank my chance to redeem myself. I listened to the teleplay after the fact and boy was I relieved to know that my email had not made it in time, because, Tasha had basically mauled my name by calling me... "A very weak, weak man..." Mandi did not defend me when asked but had not thrown me under a bus either. The weekend goes by. I wasn't mad about the statements made. I did use a moment with Tasha and Donna to defend my case on Friday but generally, the fifteen seconds of fame Tasha and Mandi experienced had all been forgotten.
Monday morning, I wake up, grab my phone to find there is a text message from Mandi. It read: YOU ARE IN SOOOO MUCH TROUBLE.
I knew right then my scorned email had been read aloud. I had not talked to Mandi so I was sure she was dead serious in her conviction. Apparently, I had missed Ace and TJ defending me by reading my email to the public and commenting that I didn’t seem like such a weak man after all. Then I missed Mandi's call back into them where she defended herself on top of admitting my email was actually true. Then I missed her mother call in to back me up so for a good fifteen minutes this morning on public radio the family was on the radio talking about my wife and I’s love life. I was in the shower and of course, missed all of it. In a way I'm glad. In a way I'm not so much. My original email was not well thought out due to lack of preparation time so I really sounded kind of pissed and childish. Had I known the full conversation I probably would have defended myself better on the "weak man, pants" pot shot. So now I'm just the faceless scorned husband who sent in an email and never surfaced to talk to the press. It put a smile on my face that out of all the people they could have talked to Monday morning and out of all the emails they could have read, Mandi, Tasha, Donna and I's dispute over who "Wore the pants" was the an important fifteen minutes of subject on their show.
I don't think I'm allowed to host or republish the actual segment but if you CLICK the link below and download the mp3 from Monday, February 11th entitled 'Push Present Recap,' you can hear the "drama unfold.” If you wanna' hear the original conversation, CLICK 'Push Present' from the previous Friday show.
CHECK IT OUT
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