My husband and I are complete opposites.
One of my older daughters, had to do a Biology project last year where she was observing hand gestures people make when they talk, in connection to whether the person is an introvert or an extrovert. Part of the project questionnaire asked the participant which they believed they were - an introvert or an extrovert. When my daughter came to perform this test on me, she announced that her daddy had said that he believed himself to be an extrovert. I said, "He is not an extrovert. You know that - right?" She said, "Yeah, I know," and we both laughed. We liked the idea that he thought of himself as an extrovert - because he is soooo an introvert.
That's okay. All four of our children are extroverts and I consider myself to be an extrovert - that's just about enough extroverts in one house.
My husband is everything I am not. He is calm and collected. He never sweats over anything. It takes a whole lot to rile him up and even when he becomes angry it is nothing compared to my explosions. He is not like me, in so many positive ways. However, there are times I think he needs to move a little faster.
He loves to tell people, "Yeah, when I was a kid, people would say, 'You move a s slow as molasses.'" He will tell this with pride, as if he misunderstands the true meaning of this insult. He prides himself on his slow deliberate demeanor. Sometimes I joke that he's like that big dog in the cartoons that moves real slow, Do de do ... Do de do ... Do de do - you know the one with the slumped over shoulders, arms dragging on the ground and big head. He laughs at this description and continues to express great pride in this unique ability of his to move so slow.
It's not natural - these slow strides. Over the years, I actually believe that he has become even slower than he already was - on purpose. I'd never have believed that he could have slowed down any more than he already was, but he has. One day he is going to be walking along and he is just going to fall over and people are going to ask, "What happened to him?" to which I will happily reply, "Oh ... He was just walking so slow ... he fell over." Maybe an embarrassing moment like this would finally make him realize how really weird this is. He could speed up - he could. But, nobody could ever slow down as slow as he is. He's not really moving at all - it seems - it's more like the scenery behind him moves.
I run circles around my husband.
One day, standing at my kitchen window washing dishes, I looked out in the back yard to see my husband, moving very slowly, across the yard towards the storage shed. I called one of the twins over and said, "Look how slow he walks. Have you ever seen anyone that can walk that slowly?" My daughter scolded me for making fun of her father and I explained that I was not making fun - that I was simply amazed.
I tell people I should have a video camera on the eave of my house, pointing out towards the back yard. There on the video you would see my husband, moving slowly across the yard (Do de do ... Do de do ...) and then suddenly, as you watch the video, you would see this tiny speck of bright light flash back and forth across the screen and you would ask, "What is that?" and I would say, "Oh ... that's me. I'm just moving so fast compared to him ... that you can't actually see me." And then, by the end of the video he finally reaches the storage shed and the flash of light disappears.
On the upside ... He may be slow and he may be quiet ... that's okay. At least I seldom lose sight of him and ... when he says something mean about me like, "Maybe you just need to slow down ... you loud mouth, nagging, complaining, fire-spitting b****," it works in my favor that no one can hear him. No ... he never talks mean about me - at least not out loud - I love him for that!