Are any of you watching The Amazing Race? {FYI ~ remember a while back...some of you wanted to know the show? this is the one... for google purposes I will not link back} Justin and I are watching this season, and I must say I watch this with a completely different set of eyes as a married person than I did as a single woman.
As a single woman I watched the couples race around the world and take on adventures that few will experience in their lifetime and think this would be so fun and romantic to do with my future other half. I'd watch those girls take a serious attitude with their man and then I'd see those guys say hideous things to their girls...each berating and belittling a little more with each new leg of the race. And the judgment began to flow. How could ANYONE want to be in a relationship with ANYONE who acted like him/her? I would NEVER treat MY other half like that no matter HOW stressful or HOW competitive things got. Truly, it's an amazing race... it's amazing that the couples make it through entact.
Then I got married. While I don't stand for tolerating abuse in your relationship when I watch now I totally get it. For better or worse most couples are opposites and if for no other reason than they are MAN and WOMAN which means they operate on totally different playing fields.
Justin is a planner. He wants to know where he's going, to look at a map and see his route and know exactly what to expect when he arrives. I don't think that being a planner is a male trait, because many women are planners, but I am not. Lesli is spontaneous. Let's just go, we can pick a direction and the rest will fall into place. We'll figure it out on the way.
Nothing makes me crazier than sitting in a parking lot trying to figure out where to go for a meal, likewise, nothing makes Justin crazier than aimless driving. This is just in random parking lots... can you even imagine how this would play out in a race around the world for $1,000,000?
All this said to say, I watch with new eyes and I no longer judge people for the way they treat their partner in the heat of exhausting and stressful competition. I do know that Justin and I will not be racing around the world being followed by cameras for any amount of money.
