Thursday, March 6, 2008

Press Secretary

Alright all you married or almost married people out there! Who's the press secretary in your relationship????

My guess is there probably is one.. in our relationship it is definitely Eric.

The press secretary carries the important role of communicating ideas in a non-offensive way ... a task that some spouses are better suited for than others. Eric and I were discussing the PS phenomenon at dinner the other night- so allow me to shed some light from our conversation...

Like I mentioned above, Eric is our PS. In order to not incriminate let's take a hypothetical situation in which someone was going to meet us in Montgomery for dinner. After the 45 minute drive, they call to say their not going to come because they didn't feel like it... If I responded it would sound something like, "Oooohhhhh, well alright. Yeah Eric and I were really tired too, but we didn't want to cancel on you. Well, I better go... we have a looonnggg drive back. Bye." (Not so good.) However, if the Anderson PS (aka Eric) took the phone you would hear, "Hey! I understand. Things come up. No, we don't mind being up here- it's a good excuse for us to do some shopping up here. Have a good night." Definitely Press Secretary.

In some couples, there is one Press Secretary... this is a gender neutral role... personality playing more of a role than husband/wife.

However, in other couples a certain, rare phenomenon can take place in which there are two PS: for example our friends Susan & Al who are two of the most calm level-headed people I know.

And, in the last subgroup of couples there will exist- no press secretary... for better or worse.

It's important to add that no value judgment can be assigned to the press secretary... with this role comes both strengths and weakness...

So, which group do you and your spouse fall into.. and who are you??? Please share... Eric and I have already been evaluating you anyway :)

3 comments:

Sarah Saunier said...

Well, I think that I am definitly the calm, level-headed one in my relationship! What do you think?

Heather said...

In the early days it was definitely me, but as we have become older, and I have become bolder...and crankier, John has had to take on that role. Otherwise I would be getting in people's faces with the, "No, it's cool. We don't have anything better to do with 5 children than to take a nigh out to do NOTHING." So...yeah. :)

Julie said...

Interesting to think about. Chase is definitely calmer and kinder about those things, but for me, it probably depends on if I know them or not. I'm so non-confrontational when it comes to friends, but when it comes to other matters, I'm not afraid to say what I think or get the service or product we deserve etc. For example, I had to be a little harsher than normal about the computer explosion situation. Also, I gave the car finance guy a little piece of my mind after we had been lied to...these things aren't necessarily good...but just my observations, I guess.