Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish, well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself, he would have whistled life away, in perfect contentment; but his wife kept continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness, and the ruin he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of replying to all lectures of the kind, and that, by frequent use, had grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh volley from his wife, so that he was fain to draw off his forces, and take to the outside of the house—the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband … . Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on; a tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener by constant use.

 From “Rip Van Winkle,” by Washington Irving

Isn’t this literary snippet beautiful? It is dedicated to some poor souls, former happy mortals, whose lives went down the drain when they married the wrong person. Does this sound familiar to some of you? It doesn’t have to be laziness; it can be any other peculiarity. This behavior has been going on since man’s creation.  I wish we could ask Adam if Eve did it to him. But to be fair, it also happens the other way around: there are men who drive women crazy with their constant criticisms or efforts to control them.  After all, men and women have only a tiny difference in their chromosomes.