Just over a year ago, I lost a mayoral election and nearly every day someone brings it up to me.
I was a little disappointed at the time but also grateful that people did actually vote for me.
Nearly every day, for 365 days, someone asks me how I managed to lose.
Of course, there are a few theories.
My actual intelligence (or lack of) is probably up there. The way I look is probably worth throwing in there. In fact, it could be a pretty long list!
One that comes up regularly is this column and me referring to my wife Sheila as ‘Old Mate’ and pasting her about different subjects over the few decades.
Apparently, that lost me some of the female vote, which I guess shouldn’t surprise me because if you don’t understand my sense of humour, it could be offensive.
Let me set the record straight: Old Mate and I have known each other for 42 years as of last Thursday.
And if it wasn’t for her, I would be driving around in a new car that I didn’t own, my credit cards would be maxed out and I would probably be living in my vehicle, which was pretty close to where I was 42 years ago.
Now, I may look like a chauvinist, and at times sound like one, but it couldn’t be further from the truth: I was mummy’s boy right up until Edna passed away in 2012. I would much rather talk to a female than a male and nothing happens in our house unless Old Mate okays it, no matter what you might read in this column.
Sheila has taught many things.
Some she has to do daily because, after four decades, they still haven’t sunk in.
How to shop is still in progress: checking price versus weight is still under instruction. Tupperware lids and cupboards are still the Bermuda triangle for me as is folding and washing up correctly.
Ironing I have mastered. only because she has retired from that activity, so it is on a needs basis. Cleaning the filter in the dryer is another skill I have mastered recently as, for more than 40 years, I never knew it had one.
Seriously though, she has given me some grief but it has been massively outweighed by sharing a loving family with me, with two grandkids thrown in and the one thing I never had when I met her: tolerance.
So, thank you, Sheila for 42 years. Life is a carnival.
Ashley Robinson is chairman of Sunshine Coast Falcons and Sunshine Coast Thunder Netball and a lifetime Sunshine Coast resident.
