"Mr. Responsibility" is a nickname that I loving placed upon Scott during our dating days (obviously not right away-we had to make it through the 'don't let him know how weird you really are phase' first). It has kind of been dropped to the wayside since our first year or so of marriage, but every so often-he'll say or do something that reminds me of this name that I use to call him & I pull it out of my arsenal again.
He is just so 'responsible-minded' that sometimes he just can't help, but tell you what the 'right' way to do something is. For instance, one time (actually several times if you know Scott) when we were dating & I was driving, we came to a stoplight that was green. I had to wait on traffic to make a left turn, so I did as I've always been told to do & have seen my parents do countless times, I pulled out into the middle. I always heard that you do this so that if the light turns yellow/red-you then have the right-away to make your turn. Scott ever so responsibly informed me that that is not the correct way to do it, instead you are suppose to stay behind that white line until you can make the turn. I informed him that I was taught this not only by my parents, but also my Driver's Ed teachers. He, of course, did not agree with me & everytime he drove-I would encourage him to just pull out there a little bit so that we wouldn't be stuck if the light turned red. He always stuck to his guns though & neither of us ever checked the "Rules of the Road" to see who was actually correct so the debate does linger on to this day occasionally.
Another example of his 'responsible' nature is when we are out at my parents house. They live in the country & it is very flat-you can literally see everything for at least a mile (or more) in any direction. They live about 1/8 of a mile from a stop sign. Now I know that it is actually illegal to NOT stop at a stop sign, but when you can see that absolutely nothing is coming from any direction & it is quite a rarity to even see a cop out there-I admit-I don't always stop. Oh, I slow down & almost stop, but most of the time-I will do a slow roll through. Believe me, this was a BIG deal a few times for Mr. Responsibilty, especially when I'd mock him for coming to a complete stop & then waiting for 5-10 seconds before proceeding through the stop sign (when you could see that there was abolutely no one around).
A couple of months ago, we got into a debate about hayrides too. They are a fairly popular occurence in rural areas, especially during the fall & as a way of getting from the wedding to the reception when you get married (at least in the area I grew up anyway). I asked the question "Could you be ticketed on a hayride because there are no seat belts & no car seats for kids?" Scott,of course, said "Yes, but they just kind of let it go or don't pay attention to it most of the time as long as you stick to the back roads & don't go onto any major roads/highways". I was intrigued having been on countless hayrides over the course of my life. I responded that I had never ever heard of a hayride being ticketed, even if it was on the highway. Mr. Responsibility then stated "Well, you deserve to be ticketed if you go on the highway with a hayride!" I said "What about if it's for a wedding-you would want the wedding party to be ticketed!" & I proceeded to remind him that on our wedding day we did cross a highway with a hayride & wondered if he thought that counted & that I was also involved in a wedding party (my cousin's) that actually took the highway for about a mile or so with a hayride. He kind of backed off of it, but I could see that he was not convinced. About that moment, I remembered the nickname & just said "Mr. Responsibilty Strikes Again".
I was reminded of this last night when we were driving home & we saw someone riding a bicycle after dark. It lead to a short conversation that ended with "They're really supposed to have a headlight on the bike if they're riding after dark." I just thought, well maybe they are, but I didn't know for sure. I just love though that Scott seems to know all of these random facts/laws & can't help, but share them with me so I said "Okay, Mr. Responsibilty!" We enjoyed a good chuckle & I was reminded of the above situations where I had whipped that name out before.
It kind of makes me think-maybe it is good that he is "Mr. Responsibilty" & tries to keep me in line. After reading over the above, apparently, I'm prone to criminal behavior! We'd really be in trouble if he was too! :)
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