Stephanie and I were listening to the radio in the car tonight. We had it on our local country station since they were doing their weekly countdown and we both like a lot of the modern country music (although by no means all of it). As we were listening to Brad Paisley's "Mud on the Tires" Steph asked a question that demonstrates just how differently we think.
[Note: For those of you who haven't heard the song, it's a song about a young gentleman who has just got a new truck and is inviting his girl to go out for a night drive to a secluded spot on the lake. Since they'll have to go off-road, it means getting some "mud on the tires."]
The question she asked?
I wonder if he just drove over and showed up on her doorstep to ask her or if he's talking to her on the phone?
From her point of view, this was a reasonable question. I found it incredibly funny and was more than a touch gobsmacked that she might think it even makes a difference. The point of the song is that the singer is wooing his lady love into some romantic together time in front of a campfire on a remote strech of lake shore. For the story he's telling, how does it matter? I know she thinks it's an important distinction; if this was a real-life event, I'd even agree. But it's a song; it's an idealized snapshot of a moment in time. I cannot come up with any way how the answer to that question makes a difference to the scene Brad is portraying (we don't ever hear the answer, you see; the song is entirely about the proposal.)
That's one example of how we're different. I think I'm glad for the differences; it would be awfully boring if she thought the same way I did all the time.