BG 62 – The Angry Wife

On her daily walks through Quiet Belgian Village, The Maakster of course also meets other residents on foot. She wishes them a ‘good morning!’ or ‘have a nice day!’, because that makes the world a little prettier. Some of the residents greet back friendly, but others pretend not to have heard her, or quickly turn their head away. That doesn’t stop The Maakster.

Quiet Belgian Village is a bit of a closed village and many of its residents are used to only associate with people they have known from birth. They feel uncomfortable with newcomers, even the ones that have already lived there for quite some time. Older people sometimes react confused: ‘But … er … I don’t knów you?’, upon which The Maakster smiles: ‘That’s not necessary, is it? I just wish you a good day!’

Yesterday, during her daily walk through Quiet Belgian Village, The Maakster saw an old frail little man with a hunchback working in his front yard on the other side of the road. He tried in vain to prune the dead branches of a hydrangea with a hedge trimmer. His wife, a lot taller and less fragile, watched sternly from a distance. The Maakster greeted the man kindly as she passed: ‘Good morning, sir!’. The man looked up and a broad smile appeared on his heated face. ‘To you too!’ he answered cheerfully.

His wife furiously planted her fists on her hips and roared at the little man: ‘Who IS that woman? Where do you KNOW her from?’, whereupon the little man cowered guiltily and made another unsuccessful attempt to prune the dead hydrangea.
The Maakster felt the woman’s eyes pierce her back for a long time while she walked on.