There's no "body language" on line. No non-verbal communication. I'm good with language. So I probably come across differently in person where people expect you to respond to non-verbal cues. I also have some muscle twitches that probably bother some people. My friends are people who understand my handicap and are not bothered by it. My women friends all think I'd make a great husband... for somebody else!
There's a lot unsaid is this gem of a joke, which cuts close to the bone in more than one swipe. He can't tell his wife about his boat problem because he's not supposed to be spending time at the boat. She's already bitc- ahem- "complained" that he spends so much time at the boat he must love it more than her, and when he's at the boat he's not paying enough attention to the honeydew list (that's how it's pronounced; it's spelled "honey do"). So he can't confide - even if he knew how, a talent most males don't possess anyway, nor care to. Incidentally, he couldn't figure out his boat's motor's problem because his mind was preoccupied. All men's minds are preoccupied. In the late '60s a United DC-8 just lifted off the runway at SFO had #1 catch fire, explode, and fall completely off the wing taking about 20 feet of outboard wing with it. The captain managed to keep the burning airliner in the air and under control and brought it around and landed safely on the runway it had just left. After the crew got the jet stopped and the cabin evacuated, and the firetrucks had doused the smoldering stub of the wing, the captain relaxed in his seat and said to the FO & FE "Y'know, something like that takes your mind off sex for awhile."
