Thursday, March 6, 2008

Weekly Story Corner #3

I dated other girls for a while. One night I took a girl that I had gone out with a bit to a local high school basketball game. Tracy is kind of fun because you run into people you know all the time, but especially at functions like the high school basketball game. While I was at the game I bumped into one of the kids from my class (I taught the 13-14 year old Sunday School class at church). Nate was a super cool kid and I liked him a lot so we chatted for a while.

Later, he mentioned to his older sister that he had seen me at the basketball game. He also mentioned that I wasn’t alone. Suddenly, he was fielding questions about who I was with, how close were we sitting together and whether or not we looked like “girlfriend and boyfriend,” etc. To this day, I have a soft spot for my brother-in-law Nate.

Retail is known for using the “One Day Sale” to create an impetus to close a sale by creating the perception that the deal is too good to last. I became the unwitting beneficiary of this primal female reaction. Within 48 hours, my phone began to ring.

I had actually gone to sleep early that night. Luckily my mom was the one who picked up the phone. My dad has an unpredictable streak, and can not be counted on to appropriately handle important phone calls. I have to share an example:

One Sunday afternoon when I was about 17, I told my family that a certain girl was supposed to call and that it was IMPORTANT!! I was going to take the traditional Sunday snooze. Everyone was thoroughly informed that they should wake me up when she called. I was woken up about an hour later by my dad coming into my room saying,

Dad: “Uh Ryan, … JaneDoe just called.”
Me: “Okay … give me the phone
Dad: “Oh, I told her you couldn’t come to the phone because you were asleep.”
Me: (completely baffled) “Whu-huh? … why are you waking me up to tell me this then?
Dad: “I just thought you would want to know.



This is why I'm glad my mom answered the phone...She knew the importance of this call and decided to come wake me up before hanging up on the caller. I was awoken by her urgent whispering that Jess-i-ca was on the phone. Bleary eyed I picked up the phone and asked “are you calling to tell me that you love me?


Jessica is the only girl I have ever seen that could make a Saturn look sexy

Jessica informed me that she had just purchased a new car and that it was in need of a test drive. Quickly, I seized the much-sought-for opportunity and a date was made for the following afternoon. The date baited me back in. It was time to raise the stakes.

24 comments:

the wrath of khandrea said...

this is great. the quintessential "how we met" story. i love it. looks like you both know how to play your cards. i'll bet you make a killer team for spades. let's play sometime.

Margaret said...

Love it! Jessica your husband is quite the story teller. I wonder how I can bribe my husband into doing something similar. :-)

Erika said...

okay... thanks for the details Ryan. I'm dying to know J's part... like how she decided to call you and how long it took her to pick out an outfit for the "test drive." and Ryan, it was fate that your mom answered the phone that Sunday afternoon.

rachel said...

I just have to ask, Jessica, how are you related to Audra??? What a small small world we live in...

Laurie said...

I for one can never walk past a sale without taking a second look. Good thing Jessica couldn't either!

Mique (as in Mickey) said...

You have me on pins and needles (is that the cliche? I am the worst cliche-er in the world).......I love this weekly corner segment.

rachel said...

AND now that I see a post from Laurie... I have to ask how you know each other? I tell ya, this world gets smaller and smaller by the minute!!

(Laurie is my brother in law's sister...
Audra grew up here in the city I live in and her parents are friends with my in laws.)

Craziness!

Jenibelle said...

Okay, so the opening line freaked me out a little until I read a little more and realized WHO was doing the writing. What a stud, my husband would never write, he just stands there, (like right now), and tells me what NOT to right. I'm going to click quickly!!!!

Lauren in GA said...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah Yeaaaaaaaaaah, this just keeps gettin' better and better! My Friday has started out right!

Great Job, Nate! Way to inspire the "primal female reaction".

(loved the Jane Doe story. It was Divine Intervention that Jessica's mom picked up the phone that fateful day)

Jessica...smooth! Have him help you figure out the new car...

Jake said...

So fun! I wanna keep reading, even though I know how it ends...

Carie said...

I look forward to this almost more than I look forward to LOST. (almost)

"Are you calling to tell me you love me?" line is classic. You are even clever when you are half-asleep. You are worthy of Jessica.

Christie said...

Would you please contact my husband and help him make up stories from our dating time? I don't think he even remembers them. Sad, sad, sad.

Lindsey said...

It is a great story. . . and so much fun to hear from a guys perspective, and Jessica! MY GOODNESS! Don't you know a good thing when you see it???? So hard to get!!! :)

Ilene said...

So she didn't call to say "I love you" huh?

Ah, Jessica I'm totally impressed by your "helpless female" act, getting Ryan to help you with the car.

Here is my "car story corner:"

I almost bought a car when Dan and I were dating. Then my dad told me that if I was going to marry Dan, who had a car, I shouldn't get a car and a bunch of "unnecessary" debt. One of my life's most embarassing phone calls was with Dan to figure out if I should go into debt for a car or hold off for awhile to see where things went with us... good thing we ended up together.

rachel said...

How much fun was THAT being roommates with each other at BYU??? Oh my gosh, I can just imagine!

Thanks for letting me know. Fun stuff.

Rochelleht said...

Me love story corner.

kara jayne said...

and the suspense continues to build!!

Jacki said...

Weekly Story Corner is officially my new favorite Soap!! Goodbye "All my Children" & "General Hospital", "Romney's Reminisce" is definitely the best!

I have to admit that Nate is pretty cool to stir the pot for you!

jessica said...

I love "One Day" sales!

Keep going....

D-dawg said...

Great story! I love the brother in law who tried to get the info but wasn't very sly. So funny!

Audry said...

I think it's great that you are telling the story. I love it.

♥Shally said...

I also drove a Saturn when i met my hubby...

Maybe it is good luck. :)

Hollyween said...

Love the storytelling.

Hey, there's a song by Brad Paisley about his girl in a saturn looking good. Can't remember the lyrics. Did you get that from that song? C'mon! CUTE!

Paige said...

Ryan, this is great. Only you and my brother in law could fall in love with a girl because she's driving an economy car.