Monday 08 / December / 2025
At a distance, I saw a friend walking towards me and something in his strides told me that his thoughts were wandering wildly and aimlessly.
I was sitting in a coffee shop and he nearly walked past me if I had not waved my hands in the air to attract his attention. He did not want to stop saying he had to do some shopping. But I waved my hand at him asking him to sit with me for a few minutes.
That he did but he had a ‘far away’ look in his eyes. We started with the routine talk like where we spent our holidays and so on. The kind of talk two men would share when they are together in a relaxation mode.
Then the conversation drifted to our domestic lives. That reminded him that he needed to get up and do the shopping because he did not want to upset the wife. I connected with him right away. Our better halves do not take it kindly with their domestic instructions.
Sometimes, it feels our homes are like a military camp. Strict, stringent and everything should work like a clock. For married men, there is only one general in their households. In those few minutes at the coffee table, my friend and I shared the experience of the domestic life.
He soon left and I watched him walking away. Perhaps he was enjoying a fling away from home at his own pace. Soon after he was gone, the place was filled up by men of different ages. They greeted each other with bright smiles. They don’t really go there for coffee. It is much more than that.
It is men to men talk that takes them away from the usual routine. Like one of them told me, it is a much needed break in a 24-hours routine. Don’t get them wrong, our homes are a fortress of stability with the right frame of mind. But being at home is always a predictable routine. That’s why it is important to take a long walk, a drive or see some friends.
For young married people, the office routine is not just about earning a living. It is much more than that. It takes them away from the domestic routine for the whole day to recharge their mental batteries. They go home tired and look forward to put up their legs and relax.
What I mean to say is that the domestic routine blows like a wind. Sometimes it can be pleasant, fresh and pleasing. I think it is all about the preparation but above all, the acceptance of the volatility of the routine. But above all, the most important thing never have a higher expectation. Just go with the flow of the wind wherever it blows to.
As for me, when I leave home every morning, I look for a mini adventure into the window of life. I don’t need to go far or expect too much. Things that go by or people who stopover for a chat are enough. The streets is a theater of life for the keen observers. So when I go back home, I am convinced that I have seen enough for the day to last me all evening in the tranquility of my home.
