Sometimes or most times I think people won’t really change much. I mean when you describe a character you’re describing what that person looks like, says and does most every day of their life. Most democrats will remain democrats (with the exception of Joe Lieberman) and republicans will remain republicans. Those who regularly watch Glenn Beck on Fox will likely agree with him and think he is so right and those who watch Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC will likely agree with him and think he is so left. You can TRY to change the opinion or habit of someone else but it’s not likely an easy or possible thing to achieve.
I tend to accept others (those who don’t view the world like me) “as is”. If they think Obama is ruining the nation I know I am not going to get them to think otherwise. If I point out that the report card on George W. Bush for the past 8 years looks like the typewriter got stuck of the letter F and that the first big government bailouts a.k.a. the TARP monies were conceived by and given out by the Bush administration because the system in place had failed so badly, well I would likely get an answer like the one I received a month ago… “George W. Bush was never really a Republican, he was just a Democrat on the Republican ticket.” Once you realize the person who said this actually means it you know that there is a screw loose and you need to a) change the topic, b) avoid that person, or c) laugh and have a beer. I believe I chose all three options that night.Back to my main point…although it’s not usual to see someone change their beliefs or habits, every now and then it does happen. Case in point; my wife. Lauren has many, many wonderful traits like patience (mostly with me), she’s a good cook, caring mother and although I know she would appreciate a complete listing here, I’m stopping just to mention that she has never really ever been “into” sports. You know football, baseball, who’s who, how many games are the Red Sox behind the Yankees in the American League East (7.5) or why is a field goal sometimes worth 3 points and at other times only 1 point? Now to be fair…I’m not a big who’s who guy in sports like many of my male counterparts, but I do enjoy watching a ballgame every now and then. So “knowing” she would rather watch the latest episode on HGTV I was surprised when I walked into our bedroom last Thursday to find her watching the Pittsburgh/Tennessee game and further amazed when she was cheering the Steelers as they were marching down the field in the last two minutes of the game and then moaning as they fumbled a turnover with only 63 seconds left? What is going on here? This is so unlike her? Fast forward to today, Sunday September 13th, 2009 and we just came back home from shopping at the Farmer’s Market in Hillcrest and Lauren flips on the TV to… the football games? She was actually bummed that the Redskins were behind the Giants 0-17 in the 2nd Quarter? I’m at the computer and turn around to look…..who is this woman? 28 years of marriage and she’s never been so interested in football. Does she have a new boyfriend who loves football? Nope…Well, I don’t think so anyway. The answer is she joined a football pool at her office for $2.00 to pick the winners of all the games for this week (She thought this list was for the whole season originally). She likes to win and she would get a big thrill in beating most of the “the guys” in her office because they know football and she doesn’t and I get that. It just seems so weird to see Lauren on the couch with her list, pen and yellow highlighter in hand watching the games. The Packers are playing the Bears right now and if Green Bay beats Chicago she’ll be 7 wins and 7 losses, so 50%. What’s next…will she be drinking Bud Light? Your wife can change.
I tend to accept others (those who don’t view the world like me) “as is”. If they think Obama is ruining the nation I know I am not going to get them to think otherwise. If I point out that the report card on George W. Bush for the past 8 years looks like the typewriter got stuck of the letter F and that the first big government bailouts a.k.a. the TARP monies were conceived by and given out by the Bush administration because the system in place had failed so badly, well I would likely get an answer like the one I received a month ago… “George W. Bush was never really a Republican, he was just a Democrat on the Republican ticket.” Once you realize the person who said this actually means it you know that there is a screw loose and you need to a) change the topic, b) avoid that person, or c) laugh and have a beer. I believe I chose all three options that night.Back to my main point…although it’s not usual to see someone change their beliefs or habits, every now and then it does happen. Case in point; my wife. Lauren has many, many wonderful traits like patience (mostly with me), she’s a good cook, caring mother and although I know she would appreciate a complete listing here, I’m stopping just to mention that she has never really ever been “into” sports. You know football, baseball, who’s who, how many games are the Red Sox behind the Yankees in the American League East (7.5) or why is a field goal sometimes worth 3 points and at other times only 1 point? Now to be fair…I’m not a big who’s who guy in sports like many of my male counterparts, but I do enjoy watching a ballgame every now and then. So “knowing” she would rather watch the latest episode on HGTV I was surprised when I walked into our bedroom last Thursday to find her watching the Pittsburgh/Tennessee game and further amazed when she was cheering the Steelers as they were marching down the field in the last two minutes of the game and then moaning as they fumbled a turnover with only 63 seconds left? What is going on here? This is so unlike her? Fast forward to today, Sunday September 13th, 2009 and we just came back home from shopping at the Farmer’s Market in Hillcrest and Lauren flips on the TV to… the football games? She was actually bummed that the Redskins were behind the Giants 0-17 in the 2nd Quarter? I’m at the computer and turn around to look…..who is this woman? 28 years of marriage and she’s never been so interested in football. Does she have a new boyfriend who loves football? Nope…Well, I don’t think so anyway. The answer is she joined a football pool at her office for $2.00 to pick the winners of all the games for this week (She thought this list was for the whole season originally). She likes to win and she would get a big thrill in beating most of the “the guys” in her office because they know football and she doesn’t and I get that. It just seems so weird to see Lauren on the couch with her list, pen and yellow highlighter in hand watching the games. The Packers are playing the Bears right now and if Green Bay beats Chicago she’ll be 7 wins and 7 losses, so 50%. What’s next…will she be drinking Bud Light? Your wife can change.
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