The engineer and his wife

So, last night I made French Toast for dinner. I asked my daughter to grab a can of frozen concentrated orange juice out of the freezer, and gave her instructions on how to thaw it out in the microwave.

About the time she was finishing up, my husband, henceforth referred to as "the engineer," got home from work. My daughter opened up the door to the microwave, and the engineer noticed some orange juice puddled in it, a typical result of the orange juice thawing process. In a bit of a sharp voice, the engineer questioned his daughter, "How long did you put this thing in for?"

Before she could reply, I immediately came to her defense, and spoke up. "She was just following my instructions, dear," I informed him, my dander slightly up. What did he care, I thought to myself? I'm the one who will clean up the mess anyways, right?

His tone softened, and he asked again, "How do you thaw it out? Because, I always thaw it out for two and half minutes on power six, and it never spills."

Well, goody for you, I thought caustically. But, instead, I responded in a defensive manner, "Well, I thaw it out for three minutes at power seven, and I have a paper towel under it so when it spills, it's easy for me to clean it up!" There; take that, I thought triumphantly. There's more than one way to skin a cat, or defrost the orange juice, as the case may be. (Okay, in all honesty, I never actually considered using the microwave on a lower power to defrost the OJ; I am a blonde, after all.)

At this point, he burst out into ridiculous laughter, which went on for far longer than the incident warranted. How rude! I don't understand why my way of doing things is so funny to the engineer; just because my way is a bit messy, I do make provisions for this little inconsequential result, after all. Sheesh! If a procedure is more logical, does that then automatically mean it's the better way to do it? In his defense, the engineer comes from a long line of people who don't hesitate to point out, 'You're doing it wrong,' so he does come by the "proclivity-for-seeking-maximum-efficiency-in-all-things" naturally, poor thing.

Okay, readers of this anectdote, I welcome your input here. Which person needs more therapy: the engineer or his wife?