Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Planting The Seed

That's what we call it when we want to lay the ground work with the wife for getting out on a ride- "planting the seed". You can't just come out and say you are going on a ride. It's a process. And it usually starts a couple days in advance. The idea needs time to be nurtured.

After 13 years of marriage, I'm sure my wife has figured out my tactics by now but she still plays along. I tend to test the waters with some probing questions and get a better feel for the situation before I drop the question. Usually I begin with a very general question like- "Do we have anything going on after work today?", or "Have you seen what the weather is going to do this week?". I'll give her about 5 minutes or so before I start with the next round. Round two is usually several statements. Such as- "Jamie got a new set of tires. He was going to go test them out on Wed". or "I heard they finally opened Clarks for the season".

I'm fortunate that a lot of my riding buddies are either family or their wives are good friends with my wife. If I can prove that Dug, Eric, or Rob are coming along or that Jamie, Tony or Jon already got approval from their wife to ride, it helps.

The entire process can take several days but if you are good at it, obtaining a hall pass for a ride can be done within the same day and sometimes even over the phone.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

you should start building my wife up as a complete domineering shrew. Build it up for a couple weeks about how my wife restricts, nags, begrudges, etc.

Then if you want to ride and you start getting some push-back from your wife, you can say, "Botched's wife thought it would be a good idea to get out and ride."

Botched

Anonymous said...

do you ever get the feeling that kim n jay n shelle get together sometimes and just laugh at us?

"and then, and then, and then [because she's laughing so hard] he said "um, do we have anything going on tonight?" and i made him sit there for like FIVE minutes before i answered, and then, hee hee hee, he squirmed for a second, and said "so, um, well, dug n sleepy are thinking of riding later" and i didn't say anything, i just sighed, and he got that little boy look on his face, and i just couldn't stand it. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Anonymous said...

Luckily for me, my wife gets out to ride a lot too, so she's pretty understanding about the NEED to ride.

I don't consciously do this, but subconciously I get really crabby if I haven't ridden in a few days. My wife has, on numerous occasions, just told me "Please just go ride your bike, your driving us all crazy, you're so grouchy"

I know others, who shall remane nameless, whose wives have urged them to go ride for the same reason.


Try being grumpy. She'll probably think you've gone without sex or riding too long and she'd much rather just send you and your bike out than have to get naked, right?

Rick Sunderlage said...

I have to confess that Rachelle is actually super cool about letting me get out just about whenever. But I think we all feel this way when we are about to ask for a ride.

Jonnie J said...

So funny.... because its so true.

Gina said...

We so can read you...but I play along too so Jonnie thinks I'm the BEST wife.