The Rules of Acquisition in Geek Marriage
For those that don’t understand that title, Army Guy and I are HUGE Star Trek Geeks. I grew up with parents who adored the show and we would make it a family event to go see the movies (Yes, I remember the first one coming out) all the way to when they started playing Next Generation on Saturday evenings on FOX. So, when I met Army Guy and he could recite the Ferengi Rules of Acquision, I knew it was Geek Love at first sight. Last night, we were interviewed by a friend who was taking a marriage class for her college degree. One of the questions asked was, “What do you feel makes a great marriage?” Both Army Guy and I replied “Communication of the Our Rules of Acquisition.” (Place stunned student here)
You see, we, unlike many married couple we’ve met, like to be with each other. We have a lot of things in common and we each have separate hobbies we like to do on our own. He LOVES to game, I’d rather sew. However, as a couple, we work well together and love to go hiking and camping and fishing and geek out over science fiction shows and movies. But we do more then that. We both understand if one of us is have a hard time, the other needs to be the Rock and steady them until they find center. Think of it as complementing each other. Then again, Our idea of the best family holiday ever is a weekend of back to back Star Wars/Indiana Jones/Star Trek/Firefly shows and a buffet on the dinning room table where you serve yourself and just chill out and be!
Folks have to understand that I’m with Army Guy most of the day anyway to help him in and around the university campus, so I’d better like him! We can communicate both verbally and non verbally now, our needs, wants and requirements, where as many of our fiends categorically won’t tell their significant other what it is they want. In other words, they make them try to read their mind. Yeah, ‘cuz THAT isn’t a set up for failure! We’ve even had couple say we spend too much time together. I didn’t realize that was even an option! Either way, it suits us and our lifestyle.
So, with all of that, I thought I would share our Rules based loosely on the Ferengi:
1. Once you have their trust, never give them the opportunity to take it away from you.
2. Never spend more then you have to for most things.
3. Never allow family to to miss any given opportunity.
4. Keep your ears and hearts open.
5. Opportunity plus instinct equals a success.
6. Honor is eternal. What you do reflects on the family as a whole. Don’t screw it up.
7. A deal is a deal. your word is your honor.
8. The riskier the road, the greater the profit.
9. Trust, but verify.
10. Free advice is seldom cheap.
