Sometimes You Just Can't Help Falling in Love All Over Again....


...when your husband, navigating the treacherous Seoul highway system, drives with such assurance and nerves of steel that you think to yourself - despite twenty years of marriage, two children, and far more knowledge of each other's personal habits than is normally considered conducive to romance - "This man is incredible!"  Forgotten are the dirty socks strewn hither and yon, the expensive sporting gear purchases, the snoring, and the Blackberry habit that has driven you to want to snatch it from his hand and fling it off the nearest bridge.  No, those thoughts are banished immediately when the two of you, driving in Seoul, following the smoothly reassuring - yet, treacherously misleading - voice of the GPS, find yourselves at the bottom of an on-ramp which feeds into a road blocked with mud, rocks, sand, and other debris from the recent flooding which is clearly impassable.  You are filled with despair, imagining abandoning your car, hiking back up to the top of the hill in the rain, the impossibility of organizing a rescue party due to the language barrier, and, finally, bleakly accepting the strong likelihood of settling down and beginning life anew at the bottom of that on-ramp, so grim does the outlook seem, and so scarce are your viable options for escape.   It is at this moment, when your spirits are at their lowest possible ebb, that you are reminded just why you married this man.

Your admiration for his gritty determination, his quick reflexes, and his clear thinking in the midst of chaos cannot possibly climb any higher when he coolly puts the car into reverse, and proceeds to drive - backwards, uphill, on a one-way on-ramp, at high speed - for approximately 1/4 mile until you get to the point where he can calmly put the car back into drive, get back onto the highway, and take the next exit.  (Now, granted, I probably wouldn't be feeling this way if we'd run into any other cars while we were taking that exciting little drive, but apparently everyone else in Seoul (except our GPS) had gotten the memo, so the way was clear.  And I can assure you, once I resumed heartbeat and respiration, I was loud in my praises.)

Forty-something project manager driving a Mazda, or knight on a white charger? No question in my mind.

Clearly, he was born to drive here.

Swoon.

Comments

Wilma said…
Wow!! Sounds like he's definitely your knight in shining armor.
MsCaroline said…
I imagine some women would have had a conniption at that behavior, but honestly, driving backwards never once entered my head (I guess it's the German in me: I'm a hopeless rule-follower.) If I'd been driving we probably would still be sitting there at the end of the on ramp...
Wilma said…
It probably wouldn't have crossed my mind either. Not sure whether it would have crossed John's or not but he is an excellent driver as well. My mother could have held her own in a reverse-driving contest with your hubby though. She could drive just as well forward as backward. LOL
MsCaroline said…
No doubt in my mind my mother would have done it as well. She is an outstanding driver - her happiest days were on the Autobahn in Germany, I'm sure. Clearly I did not get those genes. I am extremely safe, but I have no driving chutzpah whatsoever.
Karen said…
I laughed out loud when I came to the part about the blackberry...same addiction as my hubby! A great story about driving backwards and so glad that you do not have to permanently reside at the end of the on ramp. This was a great reminder that there was a reason why we married these guys, something it is sometimes easy to forget in the day to day chaos of family life. Just had a long discussion with my guy that reminded me of why I married him! A good night even though the Sox are losing, to Cleveland of all teams!
MsCaroline said…
Karen, at our house we refer to the Blackberry problem as 'giving you my full partial attention.' Usually involves them holding the device at about belt-level and looking down at it while you are talking, but still responding with 'uh-huhs' to whatever you say - unless you ask for a direct response, in which case you get a blank look and no answer.
So sorry there is no joy in Mudville, but glad you two are enjoying yourselves anyway!
Wilma said…
I would love to drive on the Autobahn, Carolyne. I think my mother would have found it to be heaven on earth. When I was 4 she came home with our new car (1969 Chevy Biscayne), parked it in the carport, came into the house and we heard BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! All four tires. Daddy looked at her and asked, "How fast?" She hung her head and said, "I pegged it." He went over, put his arms around her and said, "I'm glad the tires waited until you got home to blow" and quietly went out to take care of the car.
MsCaroline said…
Hahahaha, Wilma, our mothers were definitely cut from the same bolt of cloth. I remember my mom coming home in Germany and complaining that her car was shimmying on the Autobahn whenever she went 'over 100mph.' My dad went out and had a wind spoiler put on her little Toyota Corolla. She is definitely a fan of driving fast.
Don't know who got it for her, but she has a great t-shirt that she wears that says, 'I'm not speeding, I'm qualifying.'
It's perfect.
Very cool. I would be swooning too. I have to hand it to my husband for driving around New York the minute we arrived here - the crazy driving terrified me (and still does to some extent).
MsCaroline said…
NVG- Husband says that the majority of it is 'big city driving' anyway, so in that way it's probably very similar to NYC, although I have never seen cars driving on the sidewalk in NYC. Oddly, I learned to drive in Boston, and used to drive daily to work in D.C., but that doesn't seem to have given me any confidence whatsoever. I suppose I'll eventually drive here when I can no longer tolerate dealing with cabs and the subway...
Expat mum said…
Awww - what a great post. I have to admit, altho' I'm a decent driver, I would never have thought of ramming it into reverse. Although my husband would have done exactly that!
MsCaroline said…
EM: I would have never thought of it either. I don't know if I'm a particularly good driver, but I am an extremely safe and cautious one (as my driving record will prove) and as such, the idea of zooming backwards in the wrong direction just never would have entered my mind. So far, consensus from most of my readers and friends is that our husbands probably would have done the same thing. Must be a guy thing!
Ah yes. My husband drives me nuts so often. But when he drives I know nothing will phase him. And he makes very good bread.
MsCaroline said…
Elizabeth: driving and baking are excellent skills for a husband to have. Mind doesn't do bread, but he makes an excellent gumbo.

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