Archive for the ‘culture’ Category

30 Tips to Stay Married 30 Years: Today’s Tip #16 Avoid Temptation and Suspicion

Posted: March 26, 2018 by datechguy in culture
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Katherine McLintock: Oh congratulations I don’t want to seem prudish but if you are going to be marrying sheriff Lord you seem to be sitting on the wrong man’s lap.

McKlintok! 1963

I’m Married not Dead

My dad, on many occasions

When Mike Pence was first mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate he was teased an awful lot for having a rule that he would not go to dinner or be alone with another woman behind a closed-door.

In the #metoo era this sound an awful lot like sage advice but in reality it is applying a basic truth about men and women. Men are biologically programed to notice and pursue women and that biological urgency doesn’t magically disappear with a wedding vow. This not only explains the temptations of a man but the suspicions a man might have because he KNOWS that vow is not likely to dissuade all men from perusing his woman.

Furthermore the same biological programing that causes men to pursue causes women to both make an effort to be attractive to men AND to one a mate is chosen to be suspicious of other women with him.

While there are of course in a population of billions exceptions these are the biological facts and the ability of people to resist the prompting of evolutionary biology vary from person to person.

However there is one very simple way to avoid this problem, and that’s avoiding the situation and occasions where temptation is present.

Did a member of the opposite sex from work invite you to dinner or lunch alone, decline politely or ask if a friend cam come. Going to an event without daspouse where pickups might be expected. Bring a wingman or woman who will keep you honest (as opposed to one who will make excuses) or bring the kids if possible. Do you know your spouse is the jealous type, dodge situations that would trigger said jealously.

Use these three general rules:

  1. If a situation is one that YOU would be jealous or suspicious of if your spouse was doing it, odds are you should give it a miss.
  2. If you know that you are weak or attracted to a particular person who is getting too close either avoid said person or bring up your spouse whenever possible in conversation. That is a very strong signal that you are not on the market.
  3. If you are going supposed to be at an event without your spouse which mixes the opposite sex with booze or legal (or illegal) drugs just say no to it.

Bottom line Temptation is a lot easier to deal with if you just dodge it and suspicion is a lot less likely to take place if your spouse sees you avoiding these situation.

Mike Pence has been married a long time, follow this tips and you’re more likely to be as well.

Previously in 30 tips to Stay Married 30 Years

30 Tips to Stay Married 30 Years, Today: #15 Carefully Choose the Hills Worth Dying On

Posted: March 25, 2018 by datechguy in culture
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Ambassador Fox: Your refusal to comply with my orders has endangered the entire success of this mission. I can have you sent to a penal colony for this.
Mr Scott: That you can, sir, but I won’t lower the screens.
Ambassador Fox: Your name will figure prominently in my report to the Federation Central.
Doctor McCoy: Well, Scotty, now you’ve done it.
Mr. Scott: Aye. The haggis is in the fire for sure, but I’ll not lower my defenses on the word of that mealy-mouthed gentleman down below. Not until I know what happened to the Captain.

Star Trek, A Taste of Armageddon 1967

This is the companion of Don’t sweat the small stuff. Carefully Choose the Hills Worth Dying On.

While questions like

  • Do you want a blue bedspread vs a yellow one?
  • What type of flowers do we plant in the front
  • Do you buy Tide or Gain to do the laundry?

aren’t worth a dispute things like…

  • Can we afford this House?
  • How Big a Car Loan can we take.
  • Do we move across the country
  • Do we pay for Private School for the kids?

…are things that are important because they will affect financial and social future of you, your spouse and your kids.  A bad decision here can make for a rough life so such questions have to be worked soberly and carefully, even if it leads to a fight.

Furthermore there may be times when one’s self respect is at stake. While such times are rare and with wisdom may not come up at all, at such times it may be necessary to take a stand that has to provoke a crisis.

There are times to put your foot down in a marriage, if you’re going to do so make sure it’s something more important than pancakes for breakfast or taking the short cut to the party.

If you’re going to fight and die on a hill be damn sure that hill is worth dying on.

Previously in 30 tips to Stay Married 30 Years

30 Tips to Stay Married 30 Years, Today: #14 Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Posted: March 23, 2018 by datechguy in culture
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Bret Maverick: Waco I’ve never seen a man do so many things wrong. Have you ever been in a Gulf hurricane?

Waco Williams: No.

Bret Maverick: Well, it’s the big pine trees and the thick oaks that get uprooted first. The palm trees are smart. They give with the wind.

Waco Williams: That sounds like pretty good advice… for trees.

Bret Maverick: They live a long time.

Maverick: The Saga of Waco Williams 1959

The next few tips are going to be about fights and disagreements

Any time you have two people together you are going to have disagreement and any time a decision has to be made and there isn’t an odd number of people involved there is going to either be a stalemate, a compromise or someone will have to give in.

The reality is most of the disputes you are going to get into are petty ones, where to eat, what brand of Peanut butter to buy, what color should the furniture or the breadspread be?

That’s where this tip comes into play: Don’t sweat the small stuff

I know everybody says this but that’s because it’s true.

None of these things or the other thousand small decisions in a marriage make a difference toward the success of a marriage but fights arising from these small things can escalate out of control really quick and even if they don’t have the potential to sow the weeds that can multiply over the years and choke a marriage to death.

I submit and suggest that if you’re smart most of the time that on disputes like this you give your opinion but don’t press the issue. Go to her restaurant this week and to yours the next, don’t worry about the color of the wall, let these things go.

There are plenty of rocks that can run a marriage aground, don’t get shipwrecked on a pebble.

Previously in 30 tips to Stay Married 30 Years

30 Tips to Stay Married 30 years, Today’s tip: #13 Angry Gifts.

Posted: March 22, 2018 by datechguy in culture
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Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Rather, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.”

Romans 12:19-20

This is something that was an innovation of my wife’s and it is absolutely brilliant.
There was a day I had really made her angry over something, I don’t remember what, but it must have been something big because she left the house steaming.

She ended up at a store and while there saw something that she knew I would like. On an impulse she purchased it for me and came home and gave it to me as a gift.

If there was one thing I wasn’t prepared for it was that. I was completely and pleasantly surprised, particularly given the state she was in when she left and was loud in my pronouncements of gratitude.

It completely diffused the situation. Neither of us could stay mad at that point and the argument was forgotten.

Some time later we found ourselves in a similar situation and this time I had left the house, and remembering her gift to me, I did the same finding something I knew she would like and coming home with it. Once again there was surprise and reconciliation.

It’s very hard to stay angry at someone you are buying a gift for and it’s even harder to stay angry at someone who has given you a gift.

Now I should point out that this tip should be reserved for a real Donnybrook rather than a small tiff but when used in a critical situation it really pays off

The 30 Tips So Far

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