I’ll Wash the Clothes Every Night!

In his celebrated book The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman tells a story about a husband and wife struggling to relate. When the husband asked his wife, “On a scale of zero to ten, how’s your love tank tonight?” She said, “About seven.” When he asked her how he could help “fill it,” she replied, “The greatest thing you could do for me tonight is to do the laundry.” He told Gary, “Love and laundry? I don’t get it.”

Gary replied, “Perhaps you don’t understand your wife’s love language. What’s your primary love language?”

The husband replied, “Touch, and especially the sexual part of the marriage.”

“Listen to me carefully,” said Gary, “the love you feel when your wife expresses love by physical touch is the same love your wife feels when you do the laundry.”

“Bring on the laundry!” he shouted. “I’ll wash the clothes every night if it makes her feel that good.”

Gary Chapman, The Five Love Languages (Manjul, 2001)