We got to the video store and she said, ‘so, what do you wanna watch?’, and I said, ‘I don’t know, what do you wanna watch?’, and she said, ‘I don’t really care, anything will do’, and I said, yeah, I’m not that picky either, whatever you want is fine’.

And so we were going through the comedy aisle and she picked up some Julia Roberts movie and she said, ‘how about this?’, and I said, ‘well, maybe, but let’s keep looking’, and she said, ‘why? What’s wrong with it?’, and I said, ‘nothing, nothing, but we just got here, let’s look around a little bit more’, and so she put it back, and then like about two seconds later she picked up "Sleepless in Seattle" and she said, ‘have you seen this?’, and I said, ‘err, no, I don’t think so’, and I started to walk out of the comedy aisle.

I heard her say, ‘I’ve seen it, it’s good’, as I got over to the drama section. I started looking through a few titles and found a movie I liked. I was reading the back of the box when she joined me and said, ‘I guess you don’t wanna see a comedy tonight’, and I said, kind of jokingly, ‘well, comedy’s fine, I guess I’m not really in the mood to see one were where everybody gets married in the end’. And then she said kind of seriously, ‘well, ok, but I don’t really wanna see one of those were everybody dies in the end either’, and she went browsing around the aisle.

I put the movie I was looking at back where I found it. Then I got an idea, ‘hey, I know a good one, and I went to find S and pulled out "Shawshank Redemption". ‘This is a really good one’, I said, ‘I think you’ll like it’. ‘Oh’, she said, ‘umm, ok’. I kept going, ‘really, it’s good, I saw it over Jim’s house and it’s great’. And she said, ‘you wanna watch something you’ve already seen?’, and I said, ‘I’ll totally be into seeing it again, I think you’ll like it’, and she said, ‘well, mmm, ok, if- if you really want to, we can get it’.

So I said, ‘not in the mood for a serious one, uh?’ and she said, ‘no, no, no, no, we can get it’, and I said, ‘we can keep looking if you want’, and she said, ‘no, no, we can get that’, and I said, ‘no, let’s keep on looking".

I looked at my watch. I had to be up early the next morning. She pulled "The Hunt for Red October" and said, ‘have you seen this?’, and I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t remember seeing it’. She said, ‘do you wanna watch it?’, and I said, ‘sure! That will be fine’.

And she said, ‘well, what do you mean by "fine"?’, and I said, ‘well, that will be fine, I wouldn’t mind seeing that’, and she said, ‘what do you mean by "you wouldn’t mind"?’, and I said, ‘well, I mean I’ll be alright with seeing that’, and she said a little louder, ‘well, fine means fine, it doesn’t really mean you wanna see it, so what you’re saying is that you don’t really want to see it’.

I interrupted and said as brightly as I could, ‘hey, wait a second, why don’t we get one of those 60’s musicals that you like’, and she said, ‘why? You don’t like them’, and I said, ‘well, I’m not usually too into the stories but, you know, they’re really colourful and the choreography is interesting’, and she said, ‘but you don’t like the stories’, and I said, ‘well, not usually, but they’re still fine to watch because they’re so melodramatic’, and she said, ‘so you wanna get a movie that I like so you can laugh at it, so you can make fun of me, is that what you’re saying?’

I stopped for a minute and took a deep breath, and then I smiled at her and said as gently as I could, ‘look, we might not be able to settle at something today, so why don’t we go back and watch something we’ve already got at home?’

‘Honey, why don’t we just watch something we’ve already got at home?’

‘Honey, baby, what the matter?’

And she said, ‘you don’t love me anymore’, and I said, ‘of course I do’, and she said, ‘no, you don’t’, and I said, ‘come on, what’s all that got to do with it’, and she said, ‘I don’t know’, and I said, ‘of course I still love you’, and she said, ‘no, you don’t’, and I said, ‘I just don’t wanna argue tonight, and since we can’t agree on a movie I though we just watch something we’ve already got’, and she said, ‘you’re yelling at me, why are you yelling at me, don’t yell at me’.

I stopped again, and then I said, ‘look, please, I just really don’t wanna fight , she said, ‘I don’t wanna fight either’, and I said, ‘let’s get out of here’, and she said, ‘ok’, and I said, ‘ok?’, and she said, ‘ok’, and we left.

We didn’t really say anything on the way home and we didn’t say much while we were cooking dinner. We didn’t really say much when we sat down with our plates on the couch. I was putting my feet up on the coffee table as she turned on the TV an old rerun of "Married with children" was on.