Getting married is so great that some of us do it more than once. In the case of my upcoming nuptials, “we” have thankfully planned a very simple ceremony. Last weekend, my soon-to-be wife headed out to buy a dress to get married in. Not a first-timer, fancy, flowing wedding dress – just a nice dress.

After she was MIA for a good nine hours on Saturday, she called to report that she might have found a dress that she liked. This was followed by a six hour Sunday outing with her mother and sister, apparently to review and authorize the purchase.

We each had a busy Sunday night and Monday workday, so it took a cell phone conversation leaving work on Monday evening before we had a chance to reflect on the weekend. At 5:35 p.m. she shared with me her ecstasy in finding the perfect dress in only two days. This stroke of good luck was literally going to save her December schedule. At 5:36 p.m., I not so subtly asked her to remind me what color the dress was and also, could I call her back in a few minutes? At 5:38 p.m. I entered my favorite men’s clothing store (which, being two blocks from Bozell, I happened to be driving by at the time) and stated, “I need a new dark suit and a nice tie with some gold color in it.” At 5:59 p.m. (I will note, an entire minute over my “maximum shopping time” – but we did chat about the Huskers for a few minutes) I called her back from my car and explained that I, too, had completed my wedding clothes shopping.

As an aside, while the point here is to consider shopping habits between genders, after an awkward silence, I quickly realized that my 21 minute attention to this issue was far too short for a decision of this magnitude, so I added, “I mean, I saw a few things that I liked and will keep shopping.” I am learning.