I Ain't No Dog Tied to a Parked Car, # 2

Another observation about staying with a person over time: you know, it's hard to beat a wisely-placed compliment.

The other night my husband and I were debating the general worth of Bruce Springsteen. We were watching a Springsteen 1975 concert (playing during the pledge drive of our local PBS channel) and I was very into to it. For the 1975 Bruce is my kind of Bruce. Way before Born in the USA (when he was muscle-bound and married to a model and doing videos with Courtney Cox), this concert showed him scrawny and wild-eyed -- and the E Street Band (although strangely enough, all dressed in what looked like Pimp Gear) was fierce. They were so good in fact that my husband, who makes it no secret that he is not a Bruce fan, felt compelled to comment on the fact that they were rockin -- BUT then added that he would like Bruce better if his songs sounded less like Meatloaf.

I was speechless. I am a Jersey girl after all, and Bruce in the same sentence with Meatloaf is...well, simply not right. So, I started quoting my favorite Bruce lyrics to him and he started reciting Paradise By the Dashboard Light to me. I pointed out my very favorite Bruce line, "You aint a beauty but hey you're alright.." And my husband used that oppotunity to mention that he found me beautiful.

Now, one might say that the boy knows how to get himself out of a corner. I would agree. But I think there is another piece to the puzzle here. He didn't just say it at the right time, he said it in the right way: he didn't just say it, he meant it. And that feels better than any ten minute rendition of Rosalita, any time.