結婚して妻と一緒に住み始めたころ、こんなことがあった。閉めたと思ったトイレや部屋のドアが、しばらくして見ると、開いているのだ。①おかしいなあと思いながら、もう一度閉めておいても、少したっと、また開いている。妻にドアのことを尋ねてみると、「もちろん、そこを使っていない時は、開けておくわよ。」と言うので、②びっくり。犯人は妻だったのだ。
父親の仕事の都合で外国生活が長かった妻は、ドアはいっも開けておくようにと言われて育ったそうだ。私はずっと「ドアは必ず閉めなさい。」と注意されてきたので、その違いに驚いてしまった。しかし、言われてみれば確かに、外国の映画やテレビドラマでは、トイレや部屋のドアが開けたままになっていることが多かった。
結婚は、育ち方も習慣も違う二人が一緒に生活を始めるのだから、最初は違いに驚くことが多いだろう。しかし、それも長く一緒に生活していると、ほとんど気にならなくなってくる。
あれから20年。今では、私の家のドアは、すべて開けたままになっている。
AI translation, cross-checked between two models.
Around the time I got married and started living with my wife, something like this happened. Doors to the bathroom or rooms that I thought I had closed would be open when I looked again a little later. Thinking, “That’s strange,” I would close them again, but after a little while, they would be open once more. When I asked my wife about the doors, she said, “Of course. When no one is using those places, I leave the doors open,” which surprised me. It turned out that my wife was the culprit.
Because of her father’s work, my wife had spent many years living abroad, and apparently she grew up being told to always leave doors open. I, on the other hand, had always been told, “Be sure to close the door,” so I was surprised by the difference. But once she pointed it out, I realized that in foreign movies and TV dramas, bathroom and room doors were indeed often left open.
Marriage means that two people with different upbringings and habits begin living together, so at first they will probably often be surprised by their differences. However, after living together for a long time, most of those differences gradually stop bothering you.
Twenty years have passed since then. Now, all the doors in my house are left open.
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