He's from the farm.
Last night Steve came into the room where I was watching something on TV and said “Hey, that’s the guy from Neighbours.”
Now, Steve does this periodically. I’ll be watching something and he’ll wander in and say “Hey, that’s the guy/girl from…” He is always wrong. Always, without exception, totally completely wrong. He never believes it, and always requires proof, most of which I can find from my video collection. The number of times I’ve had to go to my library and fast-forward through a movie to find the person he’s talking about, with him protesting loudly that he’s right. Always always wrong, although he bears his errors with a good grace.
I have over time developed a stock response when he says “Hey, that’s the guy/girl from…”. I look at him lovingly, patronisingly, as one would look at a three year-old who has pointed to a seagull and said “Doggie.” I put my arm around him and say “Oh my love, that’s so cute! You’re trying to know things! You’re wrong, but that’s ok… because you’re from a farm.” (He’s not from a farm, he grew up in Hamilton, but hey, compared to Auckland, that’s a farm. Since all our husbands are from Hamilton it’s become a standard family saying.)
Last night I was engrossed and didn’t bother getting up, I just said “Oh Steve, you’re from the farm.”
“I am not from the farm!” he said, and went back to his room. Everything went quiet and then half an hour later I heard a noise like someone was strangling a frog. It was Steve, trying to clear his throat ostentatiously.
“There’s something here that I think you’ll be interested in,” he said.
So I went to the computer room and started laughing.
“Have you been Googling him the whole time?” I said.
“No!” said Steve. “Not the whole time… Anyway, I just thought you might like to know that actor Alan Dale was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, where, at the young age of 12, he started appearing in his parents' amateur theater group.”
“OK, OK, I admit!” I laughed. “You were right.”
“’After school,’” continued Steve, “ ‘he moved to Auckland. He married at twenty-one to a woman named Claire, with whom he had two children. Soon afterwards, he got a job as a radio announcer.”
I was halfway down the hall by this time, to hear floating out to me, “‘In 1979, at age 31, he got divorced and moved to Sydney, Australia to further his career as an actor. After three years playing Dr. John Forest in The Young Doctors, he went on to star in the Australian soap… NEIGHBOURS… as JIM ROBINSON, for EIGHT YEARS.’ HAH!! NOW who's from the farm?!”
Ah, sweet one-upmanship. What would marriage be without it? Yes Steve, well done. You’re not from the farm. And hey, one out of nine hundred ain’t at all bad!
Now, Steve does this periodically. I’ll be watching something and he’ll wander in and say “Hey, that’s the guy/girl from…” He is always wrong. Always, without exception, totally completely wrong. He never believes it, and always requires proof, most of which I can find from my video collection. The number of times I’ve had to go to my library and fast-forward through a movie to find the person he’s talking about, with him protesting loudly that he’s right. Always always wrong, although he bears his errors with a good grace.
I have over time developed a stock response when he says “Hey, that’s the guy/girl from…”. I look at him lovingly, patronisingly, as one would look at a three year-old who has pointed to a seagull and said “Doggie.” I put my arm around him and say “Oh my love, that’s so cute! You’re trying to know things! You’re wrong, but that’s ok… because you’re from a farm.” (He’s not from a farm, he grew up in Hamilton, but hey, compared to Auckland, that’s a farm. Since all our husbands are from Hamilton it’s become a standard family saying.)
Last night I was engrossed and didn’t bother getting up, I just said “Oh Steve, you’re from the farm.”
“I am not from the farm!” he said, and went back to his room. Everything went quiet and then half an hour later I heard a noise like someone was strangling a frog. It was Steve, trying to clear his throat ostentatiously.
“There’s something here that I think you’ll be interested in,” he said.
So I went to the computer room and started laughing.
“Have you been Googling him the whole time?” I said.
“No!” said Steve. “Not the whole time… Anyway, I just thought you might like to know that actor Alan Dale was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, where, at the young age of 12, he started appearing in his parents' amateur theater group.”
“OK, OK, I admit!” I laughed. “You were right.”
“’After school,’” continued Steve, “ ‘he moved to Auckland. He married at twenty-one to a woman named Claire, with whom he had two children. Soon afterwards, he got a job as a radio announcer.”
I was halfway down the hall by this time, to hear floating out to me, “‘In 1979, at age 31, he got divorced and moved to Sydney, Australia to further his career as an actor. After three years playing Dr. John Forest in The Young Doctors, he went on to star in the Australian soap… NEIGHBOURS… as JIM ROBINSON, for EIGHT YEARS.’ HAH!! NOW who's from the farm?!”
Ah, sweet one-upmanship. What would marriage be without it? Yes Steve, well done. You’re not from the farm. And hey, one out of nine hundred ain’t at all bad!