Chapter 34: Mrs. Wolowitz's Veto
Christie's face, which had just softened, instantly turned ashen again, even more furious than before!
She pointed at Howard's nose, her voice sharp with anger. "What?! You still need your mommy's permission to let me live here? You mama's boy! You invited me so readily before, I thought you were an independent man, with your own house, able to make your own decisions! But what happened?! You even have to ask your mom's permission to have a woman stay over?! Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"
Howard was bewildered by Christie's sudden outburst. He still tried to reason. "Although I need to ask my mom's permission, I know she'll definitely agree! Because you're so cute! If you don't believe me, I'll go ask her right now!" With that, he was about to get out of bed.
Christie looked at Howard's 'I'll go ask Mommy' attitude, and a strange, faint glimmer of hope rose in her heart. Maybe... maybe his mom really would agree? She lay on the bed, watching Howard, dressed only in his boxers, open the door and walk out.
The room fell silent, only the faint sounds of Howard and his mother's conversation could be heard from downstairs, but the specific words were unclear. Christie waited nervously.
However, after only a few minutes, Mrs. Wolowitz's highly recognizable, booming roar suddenly came from downstairs, penetrating the floor and clearly reaching Christie's ears:
"What?! You want to invite some floozy from God knows where to live in my house?! Howard Joel Wolowitz! Over my dead body! As long as I'm breathing, you can forget it! Don't even think about it! Get her out of my house!"
The voice was like a thunderclap, leaving Christie stunned and her heart sinking to rock bottom.
A moment later, Howard's face, which now seemed incredibly childish, pathetic, and even comical to Christie, peeked through the crack in the door again, with an awkward and dejected expression. "Uh... I'm sorry, Christie. It seems... not possible right now. But..."
Howard's mind raced, as if he'd found hope again, and he said eagerly, "I still really want you to live here! Or... or you could go down and talk to my mom yourself? Maybe... you can convince her? You know, woman-to-woman communication might work better..."
"Go to hell, Howard..." Christie was furious and threw a pillow at him.
In the end, the matter concluded with Christie using all her strength to give Howard a resounding slap, then quickly getting dressed, grabbing her bag, and slamming the door behind her without looking back, amidst the sounds of Howard and his mother arguing.
Howard finished recounting his tragic experience, saying with a long face, "...And then, she never answered my calls again. She's probably back in Omaha by now."
The friends had mixed reactions after hearing it.
Raj frowned first, saying with a hint of criticism, "Howard, this really isn't cool. Christie came to LA with dreams, unfamiliar with the city, and must have been very vulnerable. At a time like that, not only did you not provide real help, but you also misled her! This is a huge blow for someone who just arrived! I can completely understand that feeling!"
Howard immediately jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Misled?! How did I mislead her?! I genuinely wanted her to live in my room! And I was 100% sure my mom would agree! How could I have known my mom would react so strongly?! Because of this, I had a huge fight with my mom last night, and she's still mad at me!"
He grew more agitated as he spoke, then pointed at Raj and retorted, "Also, Raj! Why are you acting all empathetic here! Your dad bankrolled your entire journey to America. Any uncertainty you had about a strange place was smoothed over with your family's wealth! Have you ever experienced the real panic of being broke in a foreign country?"
Raj was caught off guard by Howard's barrage of retorts. He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but remembering he'd indeed never worried about money, he finally just closed his mouth sheepishly, unable to refute.
Sheldon analyzed, "Logically, Howard, your mistake lies in unclear initial condition specification. You extended an invitation of 'cohabitation' to Ms. Christie but failed to explicitly state the presence of another long-term resident with veto power within the 'cohabitation' space. This led to a severe mismatch between her expectations and reality, subsequently triggering an intense emotional backlash and relationship breakdown. This is a classic case of 'information asymmetry leading to cooperation failure.'"
David offered a more practical suggestion. "Howard, even if things got messed up, you two at least... spent the night together. For decency's sake, shouldn't you help Christie with her situation? For example, lend her some money so she can at least afford a month's rent before she finds work, so she doesn't have to go straight back home?"
Upon hearing this, Howard's face showed even more embarrassment. He rubbed his hands, saying softly and awkwardly, "David... don't you know me? The paycheck I just got this month, I couldn't resist and bought that limited edition 'Robotech' figure and a few new games... Now the money left in my account isn't even enough for a decent pizza... And yesterday she slapped me and left—she didn't even give me... a chance to 'lend' her money."
"Not only that!" Howard's voice became tearful, as if he remembered something even sadder. "The price! I paid a heavy price! You know what? Just because I brought a woman of unknown origin home and tried to let her stay, my mom was completely enraged! She believes my actions tarnished the good name of the Wolowitz family, although I don't even know what good name our family has..."
He continued with a long face, "As punishment, she froze the credit card she gave me! And announced she's cutting my allowance for the next three months! She said it's to make me 'deeply reflect'! Three months! Do you know what that means? It means I won't have any money to buy new comics or new games!"
For Howard, who loved all kinds of geek collectibles, this was undoubtedly catastrophic.
Leonard and Raj both showed sympathetic but also slightly amused expressions. Sheldon nodded. "A very reasonable punitive measure. Economic sanctions are among the effective means to correct irrational behavior."
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