THINKING

If you haven't met me in person, you may be surprised to learn that I am a fairly quiet individual. The strong, silent type. I am usually fairly happy to go for long periods without speaking at all. That isn't to say that I can't have a good old conversation, but I tend not to initiate them much. This is in rather stark contrast to writing or chatting on MSN which I like to do rather a lot of!

When I am in a reasonably long relationship with a member of the wonderful opposite sex, these periods of silence often prompt my partner to ask the dreaded question:

"What are you thinking about?"

Why is it a dreaded question? Because I am very often thinking about nothing at all. But in my experience, women just won't accept this as an answer. They are aware that I am fairly intelligent and therefore cannot get their head around the concept that I might be just sitting there not thinking about anything.

This often leads to a bit of conclusion jumping.

"Pete must be thinking about something. Therefore he must be thinking about something he doesn't want to tell me. Is he thinking about another woman? Is he thinking about leaving me? Is he in a mood about something and won't say?"

I have learned this will happen and therefore when I am faced with the question 'What are you thinking about?' and my real answer is nothing, I have to decide whether to make something up to avoid the conclusion jumping.

But this is fraught with danger too. For women have special magical powers which can detect lying and I have a moral code which makes it difficult for me to do.

However I choose to answer, I am heading for a row. A row about NOTHING. Totally fabricated in the imagination of my partner who nevertheless will not accept this to be the case and will press on with her interrogation.

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