He's not crazy!

I love everything about my husband. He's unique, makes me laugh, loves me to no end and has cute little quirks. When we first moved out together we had a few things to learn about each others "quirks". One night, I had gotten out of bed for a glass of water. I brought the water back to my night table and sat down to take a sip. All of a sudden he jumps out of bed, turns to me and says "Really!?"
Okay... what just happened? He was asleep a second ago. I didn't know what he was so upset about! Maybe he'd had a bad dream. "What's wrong?" I inquired.
"Do you really have to swallow like that?!"
I was baffled! I truly did not understand his obvious revulsion. All I did was drink my water! Well, that was my first encounter with Marc's irritation of sounds like gulping, chewing and other normal mouth noises that for some reason had only come to light at that moment. Now, I understand that there are some people that are really disgusting when they eat or drink. Just chomping and slurping and smacking. . . but me? I never thought I was one of those people.

Turns out, I'm really not. Marc just has this little crazy tick that sets him off and I just have to deal with it. It just irritates him to no end. I always told him "Oh, just get over it! I'm not even that loud!" Then yesterday, I came across this article about something called Misphonia (see article here). The article discusses how sufferers have extreme reactions to the sounds of people eating! I was beside myself! No Way! I guess he's not crazy after all! If you read the article, some of these people are quite a bit... shall we say... "quirky-er" than Marc in that they've lost friendships or started fights over it! Thankfully, Marc works on trying to ignore me or others in his immediate circle or otherwise get away from the annoyance if it's within his power. Luckily he has never come to blows over this irritation.

Just an interesting little food for thought today. Yes, I know, in our world there's always a "condition" for everything, but sometimes, it might just help put your fears to rest that you're not crazy (even if you are a little). However, if you are that random person in a line at the bank or in a public place that chews loudly, smacks your lips and slurps and gulps with reckless abandon, think kindly on your neighbor who may be misphonic and maybe eat in a bit more reserved manner. You might just make someones day a little less irritating!