10 Annoying Habits of a Preppy Spouse
by: Caro
loosely inspired by: http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2009/03/10-annoying-hab.html
Everyone has annoying habits, and a sizable part of every successful marriage is learning to live with those things each other does that annoy you. I think it's safe to say, too, that preps have some habits that we think are awesome, but that non-preps find a little...less awesome.
Now my boyfriend is a prep, but he's not as much of a prep as I am, and since I’m a know-it-all I did not consult anyone to build this list. Here are my results:
1. Monogramming - I remember when I was young, I thought that the coolest names were one that spelled other
words when monogrammed. Hence my first childhood crush on Alec Stephen Sherman (tehe). Then I went to my first rush party and I realized that there are girls out there who are way more obsessed with the monogram than I. That gave me something to aspire to, of course, which I did for a while. Since college, I've scaled back on the relentless monogramming I used to require, but I'm sure I'll never quit completely.2. Using "obvi," or “natch”, or both, instead of regular length words - Yes, this is a marvelous way to shorten a sentence. I suspect that's one of the reasons it can be annoying to others, though: it’s like English as a second language for English as a first language speakers. I caught my co-worker using "totes" the other day, now that she's been spending so much time with me, but she claims to have been doing that for years. Still, I figure she was just trying to flatter herself and attempting to be as preppy as me.
3. Weird or over-the-top ways of celebrating pet holidays – Second in importance, only to the birth of one's child, is the birth of one's pet! So it only makes sense that we celebrate their birthdays in a manner similar to the celebration of a human birthday. I have never actually celebrated a pet’s birthday but with my little Lily’s birthday on October 7, I do plan to change this.
4. Quoting girly movies – Preppy girls have a tendency to watch the same DVDs that come in the pink plastic container with a token blonde girl on the front over and over again. We will discuss everything from the specific sorority they imitated or mocked, to the minutiae of costume and prop design, but what gives us the most pleasure is identifying misinformation, bad hair, awkward movements, or super cute ideas. For some reason, this tends to annoy non-preps who, I guess, don't enjoy the process.5. Wearing your greek letter/sorority formal t-shirt to normal places - Every prep has at least a few of these; don't try to deny it. We love them, because we get the jokes and we know that only other preps will get them, too. Unfortunately, they can make our less preppy/non-greek significant others feel a bit out of the loop when out with us—or maybe they fear the preppiness will rub off on them, I'm not quite sure. Still, I feel that if I have to occasionally let my boyfriend wear a Indiana University shirt from 1998 out of the house, I can wear my “its always hotter under the water” Anchorsplash shirt from 2005.
6. Requiring extra room in the house for preppy things - Not all preps have exactly the same space needs, but we've all got more than most people. There are the scrap books accumulated over several decades, the stacks of polos and 7 jeans, and the old picture frames that might be useful someday, you never know! Some of us need just a good-size closet or seven, some of us need a room, and some of us take over the entire house. For some strange reason, the people we live with tend to get a little annoyed at this.
7. Prep paraphernalia and decorations can be hard to explain to outsiders - Long has my Lands End monogrammed boat & toat bag collection overgrown its allotted closet space, waiting for the day when I find a use for that tiny one that I just had to have...And how to properly explain my model of my dream yacht to my boyfriend’s mother? I mean, if we say "One day I hope to sail through the Caribbean in this bad boy” she will only think you are a dreamer. That's not a bad thing, of course, but it can get a bit tiresome to explain (read: justify).
8. Looking up the newest spring collection while winter is still in progress - So what are if these pieces will be on sale before its actually warm enough to wear them? Didn’t you know that that is what Caribbean vacations and tanning beds are for? It gives us something to dream of to get us through the weary winter months before Madras and Bonanno flip-flops are a reality once again.
9. Needing to watch certain TV shows ASAP to avoid spoilers – Thank goodness for the abundance of preppy television shows on TV these days; but think of how awful it would be if you accidentally found out what happens with Blaire and Chuck this week! And keeping away from Twitter and Facebook and other social websites and services in case a spoiler happens to come across it just isn't viable for that long because, let's face it, we're social butterflies and we have to be connected at all times.
10. Preppy projects that take over the house and whole weekends – Cork boards, cake design, gardening-that pesky Martha Stewart always makes me think that I can do it just like her. Alas, I cannot. Some preppy projects are simple and won't take but a few minutes, and some just seem to take every bit of available glue stick and mimosa in your house. I think most spouses of preps try to understand this behavior, but are too busy trying to figure out what you are crafting to really get it.
So, any additions to the list? Any spouses/significant others/roommates of preps out there want to add a few of their own pet peeves? Please leave a comment.
