probably true. i work with some managers who do not know anything...well they are pretty smart but horrible at managing people. thats when I (HR) get involved. my wife is a lot better with people than anyone I know - she will be CEO of her health care system some day. that's when I stay home with the kids.

File this under "women don't get it." If I wash my wife's car, I make sure it's spotless inside and out, and I spend at least two hours doing it, and I do it because I love her and I want her to have a nice clean car - a REALLY clean car - to drive around in. Taking it to the wash means nothing - $7.95 and 10 minutes on a conveyor belt and you get a mildly clean car as a result.

From my experience, most women overlook all the "little" things that their men do for them and never say a word about. The "grand romantic gesture" most women hope for is generally a hollow, meaningless cliche that men know will solicit a pre-programmed response. Find the right woman, guys, and she'll laugh off any notion of a grand romantic gesture - and will really appreciate that you did the dishes, or did some laundry, or, as I said above, made her car beautiful. And you women waiting for that grand romantic gesture, take a look around, you might be surprised at what your husband/boyfriend has done and has been doing all along that you've been ignoring.

gosh honey. thanks for doing those dishes.

i don't know how i would've gotten to them. well, with doing your laundry, raising your children, tidying up your home, cooking your meals and all.

Or maybe you're just a judgemental ass with concept of other people's feelings. My parents have been married for thirty goddamn years, and while my father doesn't break out the Armor All and Turtle Wax, he provides a very healthy salary for the family, put four kids through college, and about 15 years ago melted my mother to tears on Christmas morning with a fucking Barbie doll.

You see, she grew up in a not-so-lavish household, and she never got to have a real Barbie doll as a kid. So he surprised her with one, even though it was 30 years late. She kept that "hollow, meaningless cliche" in the box on a shelf in her bedroom.

It may be tacky to you, but it's your fault you married your boss, you twat.

you are a good, good man. if a man ever did that for me, that would woo me over in an instant. especially since i have terrible luck with cars (dude, just ask tania or damen), any man i'm dating who helps me with my car by either cleaning it for me, or taking it in to the mechanic, or fixing anything wrong with my car... that is definitely appreciated.

to me, it's more of the matter of the man showing he cares for his woman by making sure she's safe and comfortable (ie: driving a clean car that won't break down) rather than trying to profess his love through some cheezmo poem or sending roses. any man can do that. not many would do the above.

just sayin.'

That probably says more about your market value than anything else.

Re: the newspaper poetry, I get the sentiment, but that's just corny. I realize it comes off as something "special", but he could probably save money and do something that meant more if he were thinking on a smaller scale.

What if they both met through reading the newspaper? What if they met working at another newspaper? No one here knows if there is any additional sentiment attached to this gesture.

ok. i spoke with the guy....and this is what i got from him......
he was trying to come up with someone special for his wife to express his love. something surprising. something 'different.'

when i told him the price. he was really surprised at how much it was. and it didn't sound like he could really afford it. but sounded like he REALLY wanted to do it.

good for him!

just because it would be considered cheesy to some of you....doesn't get negate the fact that this may be the 'best' that he could come up with....and wanted to put his heart and soul into doing this for her.

not everyone can be as smoove as cassanova.

I'm still not convinced. The man is tacky.

That's like the pot calling the kettle faggot.

You're right, I was basing that on an assumption the newspaper was just a newspaper. Maybe they read it together every morning. Whatever the case, the guy obviously put thought into it and that [cliche] does mean something.

edit: there is no sarcasm in that, it is a sweet thought.

While that's all true - and I agree - the thread title is "girls, wouldn't you just melt?", which implies that this gesture is one to work on all women, rather than a single instance of personal significance.

I'll concede there.

i am saying that you should be able to do both of these things - my wife and I both try to do "little" things for each other but we also take time to do more romantic things like quick getaways, flowers, etc. if you are just doing chores for someone w/ no romance, that might bore a lot of people, and if you sit on your ass all day but send your partner flowers once a month, that is just idiotic.

technically....the thread title would imply that WOMEN should post in the thread to either agree or disagree.

just sayin' is all.

but whatever. discussion is good.
differences of opinion can lead to outside understanding.

I'm going to have to work on my sarcasmeter.

As it is, I am a bit of a sap - ok, a very large sap - and gestures such as what DayStar described cheer my heart. Thus, I was disappointed to see the blanket dismissal by the people on this board... Many of whom I consider to be well-adjusted, psychiatrically-normal - much more normal than I, of course - and whom I would think would understand at least why somebody would dedicate a verse to his wife in the local paper.

But, alas, no. Nothing but hate. Save for the voice in the wilderness out of Portland OR - and, no, not dnorwood - that was yours.

dude, you have to remember that this is the same message board, that whenever a topic about sex comes up, about half of the participants openly state they have not had sex in this decade.

Are you a put on or what, Fu? Are you really this prickly and confrontational, or do you just fake it because it gives you a loud "internet personality"? It's like you just look for excuses to be an asshole. I have to ask because it seems impossible that someone would read what I wrote and not assume it was just an example of many possible things that would be different than the cliche'd "grand romantic gestures" we've ALL heard about over and over again.

So, to address your specific example, at what point did I say that a Barbie doll was "cliche"? Just like washing the car, doing the dishes, it's something above and beyond, something everyone wouldn't do. Jesus, Fu, what the hell? Do you only read the one thing I wrote and assume it's an across-the-board rule that there is one and only way of being "romantic" in a different way?

Eat a dick, Radar.

How old are you?

Coming from a guy with the name "Whofa King cares". What's next, "Hoof Hearted"? LOL.

Hey, I'm not the one who resorted to a really stupid insult because I couldn't come up with a meaningful response. And, by the way, did you actually think that would be more insulting to me than it is to you? It sure says a lot more about you than me.

And admit it, you really wanted "Hoof Hearted" as your name, but you were afraid of looking like you copied me. Oh, come on, you know you giggled when you typed it.

youre name is funny in the "yo mama is so fat SKTTLES popped out!" sense.