There’s a disease we all have, but some of us have it more severe than others. It’s known as Selectedhearingitus.

Here’s an example of its effects on my husband Tim. I’ll ask him, “Do you want green beans or pinto beans for supper?” He’ll give me the short answer, “Yep.” To which I reply, “Yep to which one?” Then he gives me his classic response, “Which one what?”

I guess you can say that I’m the one who truly suffers from it since Tim’s responses drive me crazy. Over the years, I have wondered if he does it sometimes just to have fun and aggravate me.

Fortunately, the cure for Selectedhearingitus is free. It’s the simple act of paying attention to what is being said. Unfortunately, most people don’t want this cure. To be honest, there are times I don’t blame the infected people for not wanting it.

For example, many years ago when my grandparents were still alive, I was at their house for supper. I was plopping ice into the glasses. Papaw was sitting in the next room while watching T.V.

Mamaw began to fuss at him. That was her way of communicating with Papaw. After she finished, he simply replied, “Huh?” To which she raised her voice and walked off. Papaw didn’t respond at all the second time.

That made me wonder if he was doing what I suspected Tim had done to me. So I decided to do an experiment. I walked toward the doorway, but stopped where I knew he couldn’t see me. In my normal voice I asked, “Papaw, what do you want to drink?”

“Coke.” He immediately answered. By the way, in East Tennessee, we refer to all colas and soft drinks as “Cokes.”

If anybody had been standing close to me, they would have seen my huge smile.

“The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.” Psalm 6:9 (KJV)

Thankfully, the Lord never practices Selectedhearingitus in that He listens to the prayers of His children. Personally, I think it’s best to be humble and sincere when we make our supplications to Him. I still do my “Tub Prayers” every morning. Sometimes we have the best conversations.

For the record, I don’t “fuss” at Tim when I ask him questions. Being the sweet man he is, he just smiles and kisses the top of my head after his, “Which one what?” Maybe I have Spoiledwifeitus?

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. Also, she is a member of Toastmasters and will be attending storytelling camp again for the 4th summer. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. And she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.