Husband Spends All Day on the Couch Ignoring Wife’s Requests for Help Until an Ambulance Takes Her Away — Story of the Day

An unemployed man with a prosperous wife spends all his time idling and declines to do any household chores unless he is compensated, until the day his wife becomes critically ill.

Richard Franklin was resentful toward the world. He had been a successful travel agent, but with the arrival of the COVID pandemic, his business failed. Now Richard spent his days lying on the sofa playing video games, drinking beer, and eating chips.

Luckily for Richard, his wife Sharon, a software developer, had more work than ever, and it was because of her that they had not lost their home and were able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Unfortunately for Sharon, she was overworked and received no assistance from Richard…

She asked Richard for help, and in return received an empty stare. “Help? How?” Richard asked. “I don’t know anything about software!”

“I don’t mean help with the software, Richard!” Sharon exclaimed, “I mean help around the house! You could take out the garbage, vacuum, dust…”

Richard puffed out his chest. “So now that I’m out of work, you turn me into the maid? In that case, you have to pay me!”

The individuals who do their utmost for you merit your utmost in return.
“Pay you?” gasped Sharon. “For the things I do for YOU without charge?”

“Yes,” said Richard arrogantly, “Fifteen dollars an hour is reasonable, I think!” Sharon looked at her husband with tears in her eyes, shook her head, and returned to her small home office.

Richard lay back on the couch and scratched his stomach. No way would he work for free! His mother had cautioned him when he married Sharon that she was the type of woman who would want to dominate her husband, make him her servant.

Richard was no one’s servant. If Sharon wanted housework from him, she had better pay! Of course, it never crossed Richard’s mind that his wife was exhausting herself to support him, and that lending her a hand was simply his responsibility!

No! Richard believed that the world had been unfair to him, and having Sharon provide for him was correcting the balance of justice. Then one day, his closest friend announced that he was getting married (again) and the bachelor’s party was in Las Vegas…

That evening when Sharon came home, Richard actually got off his couch to meet her. “Sharon,” Richard said. “David is getting married, and the guys are going to Las Vegas for the celebration next week. I’m going to need two thousand dollars for the trip.”

Sharon gave her husband a prolonged, sorrowful look, then she shook her head. “I’m sorry Richard, that’s just not feasible. Since you’ve declined to help me, I’ve hired a cleaning service and I need the additional money.”

Richard began yelling at Sharon, accusing her of being cheap and unappreciative, and taking money away from her family to put in strangers’ pockets… It was an impressive outburst, but throughout it all, Sharon stood and simply looked at him.

“Are you done?” she asked quietly. “In that case, I’m going to bed. Make your own dinner.”

Richard lay back on his couch and seethed. Sharon was becoming far too arrogant, just as his mother had warned him, but he would deal with her! He was going to Vegas and she couldn’t prevent him.

It was then that Richard’s eyes landed on Sharon’s most treasured possession, a beautiful Art Deco Lalique vase in clear crystal that gradually turned to a pale sea-green frost, like a frozen wave.

Richard jumped up and did some online research where he found that Sharon’s vase was worth a neat three thousand dollars, at minimum—more than enough for the trip to Vegas.

The next day when Sharon came home, Richard was stretched out on his couch, and he did glance up and greeted her with a cunning, unpleasant smile. “Hey, babe!” he said. “How was your day?”

“It was great, babe,” Sharon said. “How was your day?”

Richard’s smile widened to a smug grin. “Profitable!” he said.

Sharon smiled back, then she frowned. “Something is different!” she exclaimed. “What’s changed?” Then her eyes fell on the stand that had held her grandmother’s beautiful vase and she turned pale.

“The vase!” she gasped, “What happened? Did you break it?”

“No,” Richard said coldly. “Since you wouldn’t give me the money, I sold it so I can go to Las Vegas with my friends.”

Sharon gasped and her hand went to her left shoulder and she started rubbing it. She stumbled to the nearest chair and sat down. “How could you;” she whispered. “You know it’s all I had from my gran…How could you?”

Richard focused on the game on TV and turned up the volume. He heard Sharon mumbling and complaining, but he wasn’t interested in her chatter. A man is a king in his own home, and everything in it is his to use as he wishes, right?

Then over the excited voice of the sports commentator, Richard heard a muffled thud. He looked over and saw that Sharon was lying on the floor. “Damn you, Sharon!” he shouted. “I don’t need your drama! Get up and get me a beer!”

But Sharon didn’t move, so at half-time, Richard went to the kitchen and got a beer. Sharon was still on the floor, and her breathing was shallow. Richard nudged her with his foot but she didn’t respond.

Richard lay back on the couch and drank that beer for a while, then he dialed 911 and called for an ambulance, and waited for help to arrive. When the paramedics knocked on the door, Richard was on his second beer.

He got up and opened the door, still holding his beer, and let the two men in. They immediately rushed over to Sharon and one of them checked her pulse and cried, “She’s in cardiac arrest!”

To Richard’s horror, it appeared that Sharon wasn’t pretending, she truly was ill—very ill. The paramedics performed CPR and even used a defibrillator, then they loaded her onto the ambulance and rushed her to the hospital.

Richard was heartbroken. He had lain there while Sharon was fighting to breathe, drinking his beer and watching football replays on SportsTV. Sharon, who worked so hard to keep their life functioning smoothly, held him when he had nightmares.

This was the woman who had supported him when he lost his job and became a bitter, cruel, and small-minded man. Richard’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t deserve you!” he whispered.

The next morning, as soon as the doctors permitted it, Richard was in the intensive care unit to see Sharon. He walked in and carefully placed a beautiful sea-green and clear crystal vase filled with lilies-of-the-valley.

Richard sat by Sharon’s bed and held her hand. When Sharon opened her eyes, he said, “I’m so sorry, Sharon, please forgive me. I got your vase back, and I’m not going to Las Vegas. I can’t bear the thought of losing you, I suppose it took almost losing you to understand how much I love you.”

It took a long time, but Richard did regain his wife’s trust and became a better and happier man.

What can we learn from this story?

The people who do their best for you deserve your best. Richard’s wife was working hard to support the family and he should have been more than willing to help her.
Sometimes it takes a near-disaster to teach us the value of what we have. Richard was apathetic toward Sharon. He saw her as the person denying him what he wanted, then he realized she might die, and knew how much he loved her.