A Few Good Men

Well, for you movie buffs out there, sorry to disappoint but this is not referencing the award winning flick. This blog is referencing one of my own observations.

Last night, on one of my outings to London to see my close friends Jess and James and tan, I had an interesting experience. I wish tanning would have been the interesting experience, but it wasn't. I didn't even get to do that unfortunately. Apparently, it was 'Free Tan Week,' and they were backed out the door like the Stones were in town. I didn't feel like waiting forever, so I didn't bother going in. But anyway, I digress.

Continuing on with story, I ventured into Wal-Mart for some Organic milk and some low calorie Orange Juice and to get my sweet boy Holden a Monster Jam birthday card. As always I ended up with far more than what I went in for. For some reason, they had the dairy/juice section blockaded in such a way that the National Guard probably would have had trouble getting through. This annoyed me something awful seeing as how I had purposefully went in there for those two things. But I outsmarted them. I waited for the Wal-Mart workers to come out of the back and made them go get it. If anybody is gonna go through the war zone it's gonna be one of their own. My luck would be I'd go to get it, and fall and break my face, and then they'd sue me since it was indeed roped off making it my fault. It didn't stop this one gentleman, I noticed. He crossed under the rope and between the massive pallets of junk to get his orange juice and yogurt. A brave soldier he was. But this is all beside the point. I get sidetracked sometimes. My apologies.

As I'm walking through the gift bag/tissue/bow aisle trying to find a cute bag for Holden's Monster Truck shirts I bought him, a man stopped me. He was probably late 20s or early 30s, covered in grease and mud from head to toe, sporting a baseball cap, and some heavy work boots. He didn't have very much in his cart, so when he stopped me, I wasn't sure what kind of freakishly retarded comment he was about to make. But he turned toward me, leaning on his cart and said, "this may sound stupid, but my wife's birthday is tomorrow, and she drinks them caramel frappacinos and vanilla lattes and such, and I was just wondering, I see you're a coffee drinker (I was holding and consuming a tall skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks) and I was wondering what you thought, do you think she'd like this Keurig? Her dentist had one and she tried it and loved it."

Part of me was astonished that somebody wanted my opinion. The other part was thrilled to be able to give my review of how awesome the Keurig was. So I told him that I loved mine, it was great and I used it a lot. So he says, "Well, I drink coffee too, but I drink a strong coffee, ya know, but she don't and I was wondering do you think this (holds up a box of Millstone Breakfast Blend) would be OK for her to start out with?" So I proceed to tell him how that's the type I drink, that I buy flavored creamers and such and fix it the way I want it. But then I tell him that if he isn't aware, there is an assortment of flavors that come in the box with the coffee maker, so she might like to try them and see which one she likes before he spends 11 bucks on a whole box of the same stuff. "Thank you!" he said pretty enthusiastically, "you just saved me 11 bucks!" I laughed and said "Well, I know how expensive that stuff is and I hate wasting money on something I'm not sure about. But she will love the Keurig, I love mine."

This is where it got interesting.

I felt somewhat compelled to share my opinion a little further. It isn't often I'm able to witness a phenomenon such as a male really trying to please his significant other. So I say, "I think it's really great that you're doing this. That you took the time to come in and pick this out and that you're really trying to please her. Your wife is a lucky woman." And he said, "Well, I'm pretty lucky, she's a great wife. She stays with our 3 kids (he told me their ages but I don't remember them exactly, they were all under 6 and one was a toddler I'm pretty sure), and she does all the mommy stuff while I work 60 hours a week. I work on oil wells and drilling and stuff (then it clicked why he was so dirty) and I have to drive to wherever we work too and that takes a while, so I'm gone a lot, but she does a good job. And she don't have time to make coffee in the morning, this'll be quick right?" And I got all misty-eyed and I said "No, it don't take long. She'll be pleased I'm sure."

Then he walked toward the bows and said, "Guess I need to pick out a 'purty' bow. This 'pank' one will do alright." I chuckled a little bit and he got a little defensive and told me, "I ain't no good at this, I just wanted to get her something nice." I felt horrible but I wasn't making fun of him, I was chuckling at how he had went about the 'pank' one. I said, "No, really, I think it's sweet and you've done a great job. It's nice that you're picking out a bow." He turned back around and said, "Well my momma taught me that it was the thought that counts, but you have to at least try and put thought into it." I smiled and said, "Well she done a fine job, she taught you well."  

We said our farewells and he thanked me for my help. After we'd parted I thought, maybe I should have thanked him. For being a good husband, for giving me hope that there are a few good men out there who are crazy about their wives, that want to make them happy, and show them they appreciate them for being a wife and a mother and for all they do for their husband. I hope this mystery woman knows how lucky she is. If she doesn't, it's a shame. You could tell he really wanted to please her. And it's not that I'm jealous. I'm not in a big hurry just yet, the way I see it whatever happens, happens, it'll happen to me when I'm ready for it and I can handle it and be what I need to be for that person. But it brightened my day to see such a sweet husband trying for his wife. I wish more couples were like that. I wish more couples could make their marriages and relationships work. Either way, I felt it was an occurrence worth sharing. You women out there, if you have a good husband, appreciate him. Realize how lucky you are. You men out there, if you have a good woman, realize how lucky you are as well, and if you haven't been, take the time to do something special for her every now and then, especially on her birthday. Let her know you love and appreciate her.

Sometimes, it's the little things, like a 'pank' bow, that can mean so much.

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