It's Spelled C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-E

…and, we could all brush up on our skills. Let’s take the following scene, shall we? First, from Sharon’s POV (point of view):

Finished loading the dishwasher, Sharon slammed the door shut and turned an icy glare on Robert. As usual, the guy hadn’t strayed from the couch in an hour. Such a lazy ass. “Aren’t you going to clean up? My parents are expecting us in fifteen minutes.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Oh, please. “I told you about it last week. Dad wants you to go over that insurance policy.”

His eyes rolled. “Can’t we do it tomorrow? I’m bushed.”

“Tomorrow? And what’s on tomorrow’s excuse menu?”

That night, Robert camped out on the couch.

Right now, female readers are saying to themselves: “What a bastard. Sharon makes this great dinner, and all he can do is channel surf. She told him about the meeting with her parents. What’s so important about watching TV when he’s made a commitment to helping her dad?

But, wait…

From Robert’s POV:

Kobe dribbled the ball, spun, went in for a lay-up but dunked instead, leaving the Piston defender shaking his head. Robert punched his fist in the air, thoroughly jazzed. “Yeah, baby! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” First, a mouth-watering steak and baked potato, and now an NBA playoff game. After the workweek from hell, life didn’t get any better than this.

“Aren’t you going to clean up? My parents are expecting us in fifteen minutes.”

His heart sank as he dragged his eyes from Kobe to Sharon. “You’re kidding right?”

“I told you about it last week. Dad wants you to go over that insurance policy.”

Last week? He could hardly remember yesterday. “Can’t we do it tomorrow? I’m bushed.”

“Tomorrow? And, what’s on tomorrow’s excuse menu?”

That night, Robert camped out on the couch.

Same dialogue; two points of view. The next day, Sharon will tell girlfriend Brooke what a jerk Robert is—that he’s lazy, never helps her dad, and doesn’t appreciate the way she takes care of his needs. If Brooke is unavailable, and Sharon has to wait a day, it’ll escalate to “that deadbeat who hates my father and treats me like a slave.”

On the other hand, Robert will have forgotten the whole episode.

Sucks, doesn’t it?