How to Agree to Disagree

7. Mr. & Mrs. Clean

The Fight: We both think the other one isn't as clean as we are. For instance, I put all my clothes away and hate seeing her clean laundry in a pile on the dresser. On the other hand, she hates our cats' hair and thinks that their fur on the couch is disgusting.

The Fundamental Disagreement: We have vastly different ideas of what "clean" is. Or, at the very least, we have different pet peeves about cleanliness.

How We Deal: It's much easier to tell someone to take care of one thing than it is to tell them that they're, at heart, a slob. Cleanliness is another one of those things that you don't think needs spelling out until you start sharing a space together.