Cruze, you say?

Warning: This post has nothing to do with Ely.

I learned a lot in college, most of which I can’t regurgitate on demand anymore, but it’s all there somewhere. One of the few lessons that I remember clearly was from the Marketing section of the dreaded COB 300. The professor was talking about qualitative marketing research, specifically the Product Diffusion Curve .

I remember this lesson clearly, not because the concept was so ground-breaking, rather because I could identify where I fell (and still fall) on the curve, immediately. I, my dear friends, am a faithful member of the late majority. While I’m not necessarily a follower by personality, I’m not a trend-setter, by any stretch of the imagination.

My dear husband, however, is a card-carrying member of the early adopters for all things technology and automobile related. He’d love to be, and sometimes is, an innovator, but he shares most purchasing decisions with people who are waaaay behind him on the curve (me at home, his family at work).

Whenever we’re about to make a big purchase, our differences are really brought to light! It drives him crazy that I go with tried-and-true and I get sleepless about his love for the new-fangled and sparkly.

This particular episode of “one spouse frustrated, one spouse sleepless” began a looong time ago when R started bugging me hinting about getting a bigger car. I tried to fend him off and was successful for quite a while.

Then, about two weeks ago, he cranked it up. His technique was impressive. It really became apparent how well he knows me because if he’d said, “I think you should get a model car that’s just being released.” I would have told him where to go with that idea. But, step-by-step he talked his change-resistant, uncool, late majority wife into it.

We compared, contrasted and test drove until we came back to the car R had (in retrospect) been mentioning throughout the whole process…the new Chevrolet Cruze. And here it is…. Wait for it… He was right! It was the perfect car for us. So, for the very first time in my life, I became an early adopter!

I’ve had the car in my possession for less than 24 hours, but I’m so much more excited than I ever expected to be about a car. This afternoon, I had a moment that made me love it even more:

I was driving home and decided to try out the CD player (yes, CD as opposed to MP3 or whatever the cool kids are listening to these days. Remember? Late majority!) I dug out an old CD and sang along (horribly off-key, of course) to some of the romantic, country songs that I used to listen to in college. I used to listen to the words and think, “I’d like to have that some day.” Only, this time around, I got all giddy, butterflies in the tummy (There’s a ten month old in the house, we say “tummy” around here.), and I realized I do have that!

It was an especially cheesy moment when I realized all over again how lucky I am to have R. He knows me so well (and loves me anyway! Crazy man!) Even if he can use that knowledge to “work” me, that’s not a bad thing when he has my best interest at heart and I get a new car out of it! It’s pretty priceless to not only love your husband, but to be in love with him. It’s also pretty darn nice to feel that new love sensation (almost) five years into a marriage. It beats the heck out of the new car smell!

On a semi-related note: R is pretty in love with the car… Kinda makes me doubt my rank on his list of loves... I know the list includes: Ely, me, his “big black truck”, new models of cars, and technology but I’m not sure in what order. Maybe it’s better not to know. Hey, I’m happy with Top 5! Ooooohhh, but what if soccer is in there too? I could be in trouble!