False Advertising!

Nothing makes me more frustrated...well, almost nothing...than walking into a fast food establishment (pick one), with my mouth watering for a particular food... I place my order and anxiously wait... When what to my wondering eyes would appear - a pile of something that barely resembles the colorful, delicious looking photo hanging over head!  How do they sleep at night?

To be fair, it's not just the fast food joints that are guilty of this crime.  It's also a common practice of many grocery store items, especially the boxed variety.  I mean, let's face it.  If the photo on the box looked like the reality of what you'll be eating, you probably wouldn't have purchased it in the first place, right?


It just doesn't seem fair that we should be tricked into purchasing something that is so much less that what we expected.  Whether it's food, or a pair of shoes that's supposed to make our tooshie firmer, or a shampoo that is supposed to make our hair look soft and shiny.  When is the last time you saw something advertised, went out and bought it and were delighted with the results?

Our local news station occasionally runs a segment where they try out advertised products to see if they really do what the advertisements promise.  Its a rarity to see one thing perform, not above expectations, but even AT the expectation.  The whole idea of 'under-promise and over-deliver' is a dying art, it would seem.  Kudos to the companies who still train their people to practice this concept (Mary Kay Cosmetics does!)  Whether or not each individual actually does it, there are no guarantees.

Just yesterday, my 15-year-old and I were having lunch together and I was explaining to him about opening doors for the ladies.  As I've talked about before I have been training him for some lucky girl.  When we approach a building, I will step aside and wait for him to open the door for me.  It was a strange concept to him at first, but now he does it without even thinking about it.  So I advised him to take it one step further and open car doors for his lady (or his mom.)   I explained to him how his dad used to do this for me...

His reply struck me as funny - at first.  He said, "so I should open her car door until we're married, then I can stop?"

And as the words came out of his mouth, I thought about the false advertising thing.  "No!  You should always do it!"

I began to think about this more and more.  How unfair it is that we (women) are 'tricked' into marriage with the promises that dating makes... cards and flowers for no reason, opening doors, compliments, and those magic words: "you sit down honey...I'll do the dishes." 

What happened to my knight in shining armor?  Where's that man that was so eager to please, that he was willing to drop me off at the door and park two blocks away and run through the rain?  I can picture you all reading this, shaking your heads in agreement.  Makes me laugh, thinking about it.

But before we get all puffed up and wondering where we file our warranty claim, we need to go brush our teeth.  Huh?  Why brush our teeth?  Because no one brushes their teeth without looking in the mirror.  See that girl in the mirror?  The one that delighted to rub her fiancé's feet after a long day of golf?  The one that put on make-up every day to look pretty for him? The one who brought him coffee in the morning?  Cooked delicious meals (or tried to)?  Where is SHE?  She's just as AWOL as the guy on the white horse.

If we want to be treated like we are dating again, the best way to make this happen is to start treating HIM like we are dating him again.  Raise your expectations of yourself before you raise them on someone else. 

How will your husband respond if you start under-promising and over-delivering?  Before you laugh off the whole idea, ask yourself what you want out of your marriage.  Do you want to settle for the ho-hum life in Boringville?  Or do you want to live a life of passion and excitement?  What did you advertise to your husband before you got married?  I'll bet you never promised to be the most boring wife on the block.  I'll bet you didn't promise to be a nagger.  Probably didn't show him a picture of you after three days without a shower and ne'er a hint of mascara.  False advertising. 

Let's get to it, girls.  Before he demands a refund.  :)

Be blessed!