THE INCOMPATIBLES Barron and Laurie Helgoe

Is it better to attend to what the other person is feeling or just confront the problem, feelings be damned? The lawyer and psychologist discuss their incompatible approach to communicating needs. Barron and Laurie discuss the time and place for their specialties.

Listen to The Incompatibles as they wrestle over the remote. How can a couple’s preferences be so different? What show keeps them together on the couch?

Laurie takes on the great American institution called mealtime and proposes a more a’ la carte, less social approach to eating. Barron defends the tradition. From shopping for food to eating out (guess who reads the menu out loud?), incompatibilities abound, and Laurie and Barron take sides.

Separate vacations would be easier, but where’s the challenge in that? Laurie and Barron discuss how an intuitive dreamer and a sensing explorer manage a vacation. Laurie likes to stroll and savor; Barron wants to move and conquer. They both love museums, but Barron’s done looking before Laurie gets to her second room. The Incompatibles discuss the results (so far) of their steep learning curve.

Barron doesn’t like gifts; Laurie loves them. The Incompatibles discuss their divergent attitude toward gifts and how the two of them ever pull off a successful exchange.

Barron loves to pick up the phone and “visit with folks.” Laurie is horrified by the prospect. The Incompatibles debate the virtues of texting versus calling, and Laurie puts her foot down on the topic of cold calling.