It must be so confusing

Pretty much since the moment I met Eli, it has been clear that when we are going to a new place, he is the one who can get us there.  His sense of direction is superior in every way to mine.  He always knows which way is north, he knows with absolute certainty which way is left and which is right (I prefer to stop and think for a moment before committing) and, perhaps most incredibly to me, he remains oriented while he is in a building (even if there are no windows in a room) so that he can always tell you which way is north, for example, or which street we would be looking upon if there were a window.

When I started my job at Thelen, it made Eli feel CRAZY that when I arrived on my floor, I didn't know which way to exit from the windowless elevator bay before locating the fire alarm which was conveniently on the same side on each floor.  He, in a voice that sounds like his Oliver-Walter-imitation voice, would say, "well, you know which way you were facing when you got into the elevator, right?"  But somehow, I would have forgotten.

Interestingly, I have mentioned this ability (Eli's) and disability (mine) to many, many other women and all but one have said that this is true in their own relationships as well.  (Not the ridiculing; that's unique to Eli.)  We had friends over recently and somehow this came up and the woman admitted that her sense of direction isn't as well-developed, shall we say, as her husband's, and Eli looked at her and shook her head and said, "It must be so confusing!"  I didn't say anything at the time but somehow this remark really sticks with me and so imagine my (completely internal) reaction to my husband when two days ago he said, "I really think that for our next move you won't be as anxious about driving and finding your way around.  Don't you?"

I won't tell you what I thought-but-did-not-say because it would be completely inappropriate to post here, but I'm sure you can imagine.