187. A Fitting End

A man and a woman from the Family Management course are talking after collecting the certificate. Both are married, but not to each other.

Man: Can’t wait for the next course to start! What was it again? Nutrition?

Woman (rolling eyes): Diet. You only had the idea of doing another course together. And now you do not even remember the course.

Man (winking): When did I ever care for the course? All I wanted was to be with you.

Woman: You need to be with your wife.

Man: I will be. Till the course starts and I see you again (smiles). And you can have some peaceful time with your husband too.

Woman: Listen, I have something to tell you.

Man: Yes?

Woman: I am not doing any courses in the next session.

Man: What?

Woman: I am not doing that dieting course with you. Or any other course.

Man: But you have already registered for the course!

Woman: No I did not.

Man: What do you mean? You said you would!

Woman: But I did not. It is that simple.

Man (looks at her for a while): Why?

Woman: You know why. This cannot go on.

Man: So you will suddenly become faithful to your husband?

Woman: I did not say that. I meant it needs to be over between us. We should move on.

Man: Just tell me something…did I do something wrong?

Woman (looking ahead): You did nothing wrong. And I did nothing wrong either. We did something bad together and we did it well.

Man: But no more?

Woman: But no more. I am not saying we will not be in touch and all that rubbish. Sure we will be in contact. But this…whatever you want to call it…this we should finish.

Man (Looking at her with knotted eyebrows): So this ends right here?

Woman: No this does not end right here. I have told my husband I am staying with a girlfriend tonight. The girlfriend does not exist. You will find some excuse too for your wife and then you will book a hotel. Then we will end this tomorrow after breakfast.

Man (letting out his breath after almost a minute): You are a strange lady, honey.

Woman (smiles): Good or bad, everything deserves a fitting end.

155. Return of the Teens

A man and a woman from the Family Management course are in an open air café overlooking a lake. Both are married, but not to each other.

Man: You know what? You look even better outside that damned NILS building.

Woman: You mean I look terrible there?

Man: You missed the ‘even’ in what I said.

Woman: Well, it was not spoken very loudly.

Man: What can that possibly mean?

Woman: That I actually look shabby and boring in class.

Man: Honey, I spent the whole session looking at you. I looked at you so much that I am not even sure if we have a blackboard or a whiteboard in class. Trust me, you look terribly attractive in class.

Woman: ‘Honey’? Where did that come from?

Man: Way of speaking.

Woman: Looks like someone is trying to get cosy.

Man: I did not know that was a possibility. Honey.

Woman (showing the ring finger): I am married.

Man: So is my wife.

Woman (exasperatedly): Now shut up and eat some food. You have not touched anything.

Man: I did not come here to touch the food.

Woman (rolling eyes): God that’s like cheeeesy! How old are you? Sixteen?

Man: No, but you are taking me back there.

Woman: And you me.

Man (looking closely at her): And that makes you worried.

Woman: It makes me extremely worried.

147. The Other Three Days

A man and a woman from the Family Management course are talking before the class. Both are married, but not to each other.

Man: I suggest that you do your dissertation on a topic like family outing.

Woman: What is there to research on family outing?

Man: Umm…where families go on evenings, what they do there etc.

Woman: Why are you suggesting such a weird topic?

Man: Because you will need to visit some family places in the evenings to do on-field research.

Woman: And?

Man: And your husband will have no suspicions if you are away from home even on days when there is no class.

Woman: Four days of class are not enough for you?

Man: No. I want you four days in class and three days outside. (Dramatic pause). Is that a problem?

Woman: Maybe not. But then I also have a suggestion for your dissertation topic.

Man: What is that?

Woman: You should do a research on where lonely wives go for shopping and do the field work with me.

Man: Accompanying you to shopping? Isn’t that a little boring? How about leaving that particular job to your husband?

Woman: Hmm. How about leaving me also to my husband, then?

Man: I got your point.

118. The Health of the Husband

A male participant from the Family Management course is trying to convince a female participant to attend another course with him next year. They are both married. But not to each other.

Man: I have some inside information about some of the next courses. Not all, but some.

Woman: Are you sure you want to do this?

Man: This is not something that I do alone. Either we both do another course or none.

Woman: Still, there has to be something meaningful. I have to tell my husband which course I am doing. I mean, I cannot simply enroll myself for a course on party politics. He will know something is wrong.

Man: Why are you so afraid of him?

Woman: Not afraid, but careful. If I am going to join a course just to spend time with you AND want my husband to finance that course, then the least I can do is be a little careful.

Man: Are you feeling guilty?

Woman: Let’s not talk about that.

Man: No, I am saying that you have no reason to feel guilty. It is not like he…

Woman: Can we not talk about that? Tell me which courses they have from January.

Man: As you wish. Two courses are confirmed. One is on Creating a Startup and the other one is Savings and Investments. Both are for six months and both start in January.

Woman: And both are useless to me.

Man: Well, then they are repeating the Social Media Usage course from January. Interested?

Woman: Not much. But better than the other two.

Man: There is also a crash course on Understanding Classical Music, but it starts from April.

Woman: Not really my thing. That’s all?

Man: For this branch, yes.  The City-East branch is offering the Time Management course from January. It is the same as the one going on here. Then it is also offering two crash courses on dieting. Both are for three months. One is called Diet for a Working Professional and the other is called Diet for a Family. Good thing, they can be done one after the other. That way, six months total.

Woman: A course on dieting sounds good. I could do that. But the City-East branch of NILS is further away from my home than this one. That is a problem.

Man: Problem? It is perfect! I get to spend more time with you on the road and your husband gets to eat healthy food.

106. The Husband Will Pay

A man and a woman from the Family Management course is talking to each other at a desk at the back of the classroom during an activity in the Case Study session. Both of them are married, but not to each other.

Man: They have study leave from first December. The course here ends on thirtieth November.

Woman: Hmm.

Man: Today is sixth October already. We don’t even have two more months. Do we stop meeting each other after that?

Woman: (silence)

Man: How about enrolling for another course in January?

Woman (looking up): Which course?

Man: Any. Does not matter.

Woman: That is rather weird.

Man: Is there any other way of spending time together?

Woman: I have a family. I can’t simply go out and meet you.

Man: Which is why another course is the best option. We enroll and then it is up to us to come to class or not.

Woman: It does not come for free, you know. There are course fees.

Man (winks): Your husband will pay for it.

Woman: (silence)

Man: There is no hurry. Think some more at home. In the meantime I will get information on what courses are available from January.

84. Staying Away

Two participants from the Family Management course are chatting before the classes begin. Both are married, but not to each other.

Man: You are not working, right? I mean not earning. So, your husband is paying for this course?

Woman: Yes and he damn well should. I am doing this to handle his side of the family. My in-laws are nutjobs.

Man: He actually asked you to join?

Woman: No, I told him straight that if he wants me to take care of his children and his parents while he doesn’t even give a damn, then the least I deserve is a professional training.

Man: Why doesn’t he give a damn?

Woman: Because he is busy. Or whatever. (Drinks water from a bottle). And why are you really doing this course?

Man: (Thinks a little) Alright, I will tell you a secret. I am always doing some course or other.

Woman: Really? What type of courses?

Man: That does not matter. Anything. I have even enrolled in computer courses and acting classes.

Woman: Is this a hobby?

Man: No, it isn’t. I will be honest with you. I mean, why not? (Smiles) I do these courses to stay away from my wife.

Woman: (Stares spellbound)

Man: Yeah, I know. Sounds crazy. But not that crazy once you get to know my wife.

Woman: That difficult, huh?

Man: In a nutshell, you would like to stay away. But you cannot just stay away. You will need to give a reason. Which is why I keep doing random courses. And by God, am I glad I chose this course!

Woman: (Smiles)

72. During The Break

(For more information on the people below, please click on the labels at the end)

The Batchmates

The boy from Party Politics and the girl from Social Media are standing at the glass window at the end of the second floor corridor, between the classrooms of Office Dynamics and Work-Life Balancing. The boy is holding a folded newspaper and explaining some news to the girl. The girl is showing a look of intent interest every time the guy is looking up at her.

The Daughter

The daughter is sitting in her classroom for Time Management on the second floor and talking to a girl of similar age. They both have a chart with the title “Invisible Time Records” in front of them and seem to be having a discussing about the topic. On the chart in front of the other girl the words “Total 4.5 hours” are written in red ink.

The Married Ones

The man and the woman are standing next to the water cooler at the canteen. The man is leaning against a wall with a light smile on his face. The woman is showing him something on her mobile. Her face is slightly red.

The Husband

The husband is standing in the corridor outside his Family Management classroom on the second floor and talking to his wife on phone. He has just suggested that he will take her out for dinner. But to his dismay, instead of being overjoyed his wife is now asking if this proposal was a kind of home assignment given in class.

The Office Guy

The colleague from the Office Dynamics course is in the library. He is issuing a book called, “Safety 101: How Not to Trust Anyone”.

61. Wet Things

Two participants from the Family Management course chatting in WhatsApp.

Male participant: I am late again. My wife is going to kill me.

Female participant: Why are you always so late?

I would kill my husband too, if he came so late everyday.

Lots of work responsibilities.

Junior employees can go home early.

Management level is different.

(cryly)

Did you call your wife?

Nope, she is going to scream.

Stupid!

You were supposed to call your wife, not me! 

(rolled eyes)

That was in my prescription. If late, give wife a call.

That prescription got wet.

???

Heavy rains.

You drive a car.

Car got wet too.

Whatever

Go call your wife

You should have kept my prescription more carefully

Sorry!

Stupid

Give me a new prescription and a chance to apologize tomorrow at 7 pm?

58. Complaining Husbands and Consulting Wives

Application Session, Family Management Course: Participants are sitting in pairs and discussing what types of problems they are currently facing within the family. One person describes the problem while the other one tries to find a solution. Then they change roles.

The following interesting discussion was heard at one of the tables:

Male Participant: One issue I have is that my wife thinks I do not spend enough time at home.

Female Participant: Is that true?

Male: Not always. I have serious workload in office and sometimes I have to work till late. But I am always home on weekends.

Female: Maybe that is not enough for her. She wants more of you.

Male: Oh yes, right (smiles).

Female: Or maybe she feels insecure.

Male: What for?

Female: From your girlfriends (winks).

M: Girlfriends? I am married (shows his ring).

F: So what? I am sure you could have many girlfriends if you wanted.

M: If only it was that simple (mock sigh).

F: Don”t worry. I will give you a prescription (takes out a notebook). I will give you some tips and you follow them and report back to me in two weeks. (Smiles) Fine?

M: Yes, Doctor. I can also report back in a week (winks). Or even earlier.

F: Very eager patient.

M: Eager to take care of my wife.

F: (rolling eyes) Eager to complain about your wife.

M: Complain? We never do that.

F: Really? Show me one husband who does not like to criticize his wife.

M: Okay. Go home and look at your husband.

F: (widened eyes) You think he does not like to complain about me?

M: (with a serious face) As far as I see, he has not one reason to complain.