STORYTELLING

My Wife Attended a Scout Jamboree

But the reality hit her harder

“I can’t go back to that job; don’t force me,” my wife said as she got into the car.

She was drenched from the heavy rain, and I noticed water pooling on the car’s carpet as it dripped from her saree. I couldn’t tell if it was rain or tears streaming from her eyes, but judging by her voice, I assumed it was the latter.

“Okay,” I said. From past experience, I knew that any comment I made would result in catastrophic damage.

“This is not a joke. Did you hear me? Today is my last day, and I’ll never go back to this job!” She screamed again in an aggravated voice.

“Sure! There’s no need to go to work again,” I agreed with her.

For those who don’t know, my wife is an art teacher at a government school. As one of the younger teachers in the school, she often finds herself assigned numerous extracurricular activities. One day, she surprised me by announcing that she was going to take charge of the school’s scout program along with another teacher.

I tried to explain to her that it wouldn’t be an easy task, as it comes with significant responsibilities. However, she remained adamant about her decision, expressing her confidence in handling the role. I realized it wasn’t my place to change her mind, so I kept my mouth shut.

Last week, we had two consecutive public holidays on Thursday and Friday, resulting in a long weekend. I had marked these days on the calendar months ago with a few plans in mind. So, imagine my frustration when my wife informed me a few weeks ago about a Scout Jamboree she had to attend on this long weekend. I had to cancel all of my plans.

In the meantime, my wife was gearing up for her first-ever Jamboree experience. Neither of us had any scout experience during our school years, so she was quite excited about the event. Even during our evening calls, she mostly discussed the registration process, student training, finding camping tents, and planned activities for the Jamboree.

I didn’t want to dampen her enthusiasm, but I did express concern about the potential for adverse weather conditions. However, she didn’t take those warnings seriously.

Anyhow, the day of the Jamboree had arrived. In the evening, I called her to get an update. It seemed that her initial excitement had faded. She complained about the lack of facilities and the rainy weather situation. When I asked if she regretted participating in the event, she replied that she had somewhat expected these challenges. She admitted that reality was harsher than her expectations.

On the second evening, she caught a cold and was quite frustrated with the situation. I was tempted to say, ‘I told you so,’ but I refrained from it.

On the third day, she called and mentioned that she felt like she had a fever. She asked me to come to the camp so she could get some medicine. She had taken the permission for a leave. Even though there was a standby doctor at the camp premises, she preferred to consult her regular doctor.

I suggested she stay home the next day, but she insisted on attending, emphasizing the importance of the closing ceremony. Reluctantly, I dropped her off at the Jamboree with the promise to return in the next day evening.

When I visited her in the following day evening, I couldn’t understand the reason for her sudden breakdown. It turns out that she had reached her limit of endurance.

Throughout the event, rain prevailed, making their experience a bitter one. By definition, a scout camp was planned with some challenges, but she thought it was too much. She was afraid that a child would be caught with an illness due to the bad weather. Instead, she was the one who had caught a cold, making her miserable.

During the entire event, she was tired and had a small sleep time. She had been holding back her emotions throughout the event. But in the end, it was too much, and she couldn’t bear it any longer. As a result, all her feelings came pouring out at the end when she was getting into the car in the heavy rain.

I wanted to explain that we shouldn’t get upset about things we can’t control, but it wasn’t the right time for that conversation. So, I let my wife cry until she had exhausted all her emotions. She cried during the entire duration of our journey from the scout camp to our home, which was about an hour and a half.

Initially, her anger was directed at the event organizer for choosing a rainy time for the camp. It shifted to the continuous rain, her decision to participate in the scout camp, and the difficulties in her job. Eventually, it extended to the traffic on the road and various other random things. I chose to remain silent and refrained from making any comments. Being silent turned out to be a bad idea because it resulted in turning her anger toward me.

Human emotions are incredibly complex. We can go from loving something passionately to hating it in an instant due to a change in our mindset. Later, when the dust settles, we often find ourselves regretting our behavior.

My wife went through a similar experience. She had calmed down somewhat by the time we reached home.

That evening, I wasn’t in a particularly cheerful mood due to the events of the day, and I didn’t make an effort to conceal my feelings.

Later that night, my wife apologized for her behavior, clearly embarrassed by her actions. Being the type of person who couldn’t stay upset with her for long, I forgave her. Still, I insisted on writing down the entire situation. She protested, but I couldn’t resist the chance write it down.