I discovered the answer yesterday, when I saw it with my very own eyes. I first saw it happen some twenty plus years ago. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out. The first time I saw it, I got irritated. I had even asked my then-husband, “What the heck’s wrong with you?” He just stared at me, confused, not knowing how to answer. It happened many, many, many times after that, with other men. It has even happened to my son!

Over the years, I stopped trying to figure it out. Stopped asking, “Why?” I just gave in and dealt with it. I still wondered, though, why this strange phenomena was only affecting men, and not women? At least, no woman I had ever known had been affected by this.

So, yesterday, I was in the kitchen and I saw the answer with my very own eyes. There I was, having just finished doing all the dishes. I was admiring my clean kitchen, my now empty sink. And then it happened. My boyfriend walked into the kitchen, with a plate in his hand. He stood in front of the sink. Plate in hand, his arm hovered over the sink. At this point, it was like time took on a slow-motion quality. I watched him struggle to put his arm down, therefore laying the plate in the sink. But he couldn’t do it! It was like something was stopping him! Then I saw his arm slowly move to the left of the sink, where he proceeded to set the plate down on the counter. I looked at him, looked at the plate, looked at the sink. And that’s when it hit me. There was an invisible force-field over the sink!! Upon my realization, time sped up to normal again, and I looked at my boyfriend. He turned to me, smiled, and walked out of the room. He didn’t know! I thought to myself. I waved my hand over the sink a few times, trying to feel anything. But feeling nothing there. Perplexed, I backed up and watched the sink. If there was some kind of mysterious energy field there, I just had to be able to see it, or feel it, somehow. But still, nothing.

I left the kitchen and went to sit at my desk, deep in thought. My mind raced back through the years, seeing all over again the men I had known who had been afflicted by this. It all made sense! This force-field only affected men! But WHY?! I have yet to figure out that answer, but maybe one day I will. Or maybe some brilliant scientist will, and she’ll share it with the world. I looked over at my boyfriend, debating on whether or not to tell him about my discovery. But I hesitated. In all his life, he’d never questioned the force-field himself. Maybe he didn’t want to know. Maybe he thought he was the only one. I decided against telling him. But then I wondered if I should tell my son! Maybe I could help my son before it was too late! But, no, it had already hit him, too, hadn’t it? I saw it myself. My grandson – he’s only 2! Surely, this mysterious thing can’t have affected him already. I needed to call my daughter and inform her! So I did. “Mom,” she said sympathetically, “I already know about the force-field. And you’re too late. Your grandson has already been infected. I’m doing everything I can to reverse it, but it doesn’t seem to help.” I hung up the phone and sat there, thinking.

What’s a woman to do? I thought. I came up with the only conclusion I could find. To just not say anything to the men in my life, for fear of upsetting them. Breathing in deeply, I resigned myself to helping these men. I vowed that from that moment on, whenever a man in my house couldn’t put his dirty dish in the sink, and had to set it on the counter instead, I would keep my silence. I would just pick up the dish and set it gently in the sink. For mankind, I would do that. I stood up and walked into the kitchen. Letting out a tiny sigh, I picked up the plate and set it in the sink. I walked back into the livingroom, kissed my boyfriend lightly on the cheek, and went about the rest of my chores.

I wanted to share this discovery of mine with all the rest of the women out there. For those that don’t already know about the force-field. You can try to do what you will to change it, but I fear that there truly is no hope. If any woman out there has any suggestions to a cure, please do let me know!