When No means Yes

As Valentine's Day approached, Ed asked me for inputs and I blithely reassured him that it was not necessary to do anything special and we could spend a quiet evening in. Hence, we (ie. he suggested and I said OK) opted for a "stay at home evening" and da-baoed chilli crab from our favourite seafood restaurant just opposite our home and watched a DVD.

In addition, Ed decided to 'surprise' me with a gift and presented me with Japanese snacks in view of my snackaholic tendencies. (I know...it's more pragmatic than romantic.)

My V-day present!

Admittedly, I did tell Ed to not bother too much about Valentine's Day in view that this was a commercial, over-hyped and over-priced, boycott-worthy event.

However, I started to feel abit miffed that Ed didn't plan something special when I read/heard about my friends' own V-day celebrations, conveniently choosing to overlook a few pertinent facts:

• I don't appreciate flowers (my friend got roses!)
• I could have requested for a home-cooked meal (My friend had a romantic balcony dinner with seaview to boot!)
• I could have planned/suggested an overseas trip or excursion (My friend went Beijing!)

After hearing all that, what crossed my mind was that Ed could have attempted to do something more even though I had said otherwise. *hmmph*

Perhaps, my favourite food blogger (ieatishootipost) put this aptly when he remarked:

So I was under a lot of pressure to find a nice place to bring [my wife] for our anniversary dinner. Of course, she told me that flowers and dinner were not necessary, that we should save money lah, blah, blah blah.

But take it from me guys, they might say "no", but often that "no" is often a test of your ability to read their thoughts. So, sometimes "no" means "No dinner huh? Next time you wait long long for your favourite Carrot Cake". But, sometimes "no" really means "no".

So the secret of a good marriage is knowing when "no" means "no" and when it means otherwise. And that, unfortunately only comes through experience. So you can imagine how many times I kena from her in the early years of marriage.

*bemused smile*

Fine...I really didn't need anything special done for Valentine's Day in view that it really wasn't important (for me) in the overall scheme of things.

Guess I just yearned to be surprised in spite of how I claim otherwise. After some reflection, decided to just let him off with a warning. (I'm kidding!)