Let's Go to the Movies!

With my mom having passed away, I am now left with a lot of "free" time.  I was initially thinking that this freedom would allow me more opportunity to focus on my blog posts each week, but then I realized that without visiting my mom and coming into contact with her world, there's going to be a real shortage of material to draw upon.  Although I am hoping to stay in touch with her friends Betty and Marion from Spring Hills, for now I'm going to refocus and zone in on subject matter I've only touched on previously but that which forever fascinates me:  the differences between men and women.

In order to do this, I've decided to share with you the inside scoop on a particular situation that David and I see very differently.  Rest assured that David, being the good sport that he is, gave me two thumbs up when I asked if he'd be OK with being the subject of my blog post.    

   

So, without further ado...Last night our dear friend came over for dinner and a movie - "Boyhood" - to watch in David's man cave.  My girlfriend mentioned to me before the movie that when I was picking up our Chinese food, David mentioned that he is going to make popcorn for us even though, he told her, I'm not a fan of his popcorn machine.   

For the record, I love popcorn, and I love the dates David and I used to have at the former Ritz movie theatre, for many, many years.  There was an air of excitement about it, from driving there to driving home.  Since we always arrived 45 minutes to an hour before the movie started (guess whose idea that was?) we had a lot of time to hang out while quickly moving through our routine as if time was of the essence:  David would get the tickets, I'd wait in line for the popcorn, he'd come over and give me my ticket, take napkins and a straw for the soda and then he'd sprint to the specific theatre to claim our two seats, most of the time before anyone else had entered.  We'd then assess the quality of the popcorn and the soda, most of the time nearly finishing both before the movie started.  Afterwards, we'd go somewhere for dinner or a dessert and talk more about the movie.   

When David said he wanted to build a home theatre several years ago, I completely understood he wanted to enjoy movies at home, although I did mention my concern that I hoped he would still want date nights at the Ritz.  

   

A year after the completion of the theatre, he started talking about getting a popcorn machine and cart, to further simulate the Ritz experience.  Oy.  I said NO WAY!!!!

Here's why:  1 - I was afraid with the combination of a home theatre AND theatre-quality popcorn, David would never want to "go to the movies;" 2 - I didn't want us to indulge in the sinfully delicious Ritz-like popcorn more often, and I wasn't sure I'd even like the popcorn he'd be making at home; 3 - I didn't want to be responsible for something else to clean; 4 - I was afraid that the placement of the large (and oily) machine and cart front and center in the home would be very irksome to me.     

We spoke at length about my objections and, as usual, we compromised:  He got the machine without the cart, and it stays in the garage until it's time to use it.  And, true to his word, he cleans it, each and every time. He even puts it back into the garage when he's done with it.

David never really "got" my objections; his goal was to bring the experience we enjoyed so much at the Ritz IN to our home; my goal had been to continue to enjoy our date nights at the Ritz, not at home.  We run into this issue quite often, actually, as I'm always looking for different things to do outside our home, while David likes to stay in, whenever possible. He also prefers to avoid crowds, whereas I'm not as bothered by them.     

I wonder if these differences represent male/female thinking or are unique to us.

On a side note, Boyhood was great, the room performed like a true theatre and the popcorn was actually pretty good.