Watching movies with my firefighter is often a test of will for me. I’m not a sappy kind of woman who wants her romance movies, a box of chocolates and a handful of tissues to make it through our couples movie time. I’d take the chocolates any time, but romance and tears are best left to women who know how to use them. I’m more the action type. My husband loves this because he never has to appease me with chick flicks in an effort to win over my romantic side later in the evening. We like the same things, like war movies, action movies, comedies, documentaries and, of course, the obligatory rescue movies. Who in the rescue realm does not love movies about their beloved profession? The problem that arises is that I watch them to get my fix of Hollywood’s version of real men involved in real action; not the pasty, metros in skinny jeans that flounce around society too much these days. My husband, on the other hand, watches them to analyze and critique the details. I’m not sure why. Our living room certainly bears no resemblance to the training room at work. We don’t pause the movie and use a laser pointer to play What’s Wrong With This Picture? (although maybe I should be careful not to suggest that one) and my company is hopefully preferable to a roomful of sweaty firefighters. The final straw with my favorite medical drama was one evening as I flipped of the TV after hearing him shout, “You can’t stand in a puddle of water, in the pouring rain and shock some fool laying in two inches of standing water, with downed, sparking power lines next to your foot! That’s just stupid!” Sadly, it wasn’t that big of a loss. I never really missed the show and he didn’t get a blood pressure spike just watching TV anymore. I have just one request for him though: Please leave me Ladder 49 as a token of peace. If I can visit you at the station in your down time and believe that you actually do train hard during the day and fight fires if and when they occur, leave my heroic ideas intact for that one movie. It may be all smoke and mirrors, but just leave it be. Thanks.
