R56 My girlfriend doesn't get "the whole MINI thing"
#27
09-02-2008, 11:51 AM
#29
09-02-2008, 12:06 PM
Dump her!
i'm am not a mini fan or sportman, i'm a straight up junkie. i wanted and waited and saved for a year to get it and now it's here and i love it. break in was completed in 10 days. nmmini.org is doing a run down hwy 191 next week. i mentioned it to her and was met with the response "umm so your going to drive 4 hours to go drive with some other minis?" she didn't ask to see it for a week when i got it. i figured she was just being a hater because it's wayyyy nicer then her 08 mazda 3, but now i think she's just clueless. she asks "what's the big deal with that car? cause it's little?" how do you explain that which is the MINI to someone? explain 40 years of heritage. the rallies, the races, the awards, the movies. the fact that i didn't go to a dealer and pick a car that had the things i wanted, but that several people came to work one day to build my car. for me. the smile when i knife through traffic like a light saber through warm butter. when people look in the window and say "holy ***** there is a lot of room in here!" will she ever "get it"? or just let her take the bus....
Ciao,
Jeff
#30
09-02-2008, 12:27 PM
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The Mini on the other hand is not covered as much. You chose the Mini, because the car person in you loved the idea of what a Mini is, and something resonated inside you. That's what makes the Mini truly special. You got it, because you love it.... not because everyone was saying how great it was.
Ever since I picked up the Mini, I was able to convince a lot of friends that Mini isn't just a "cute little car". They have been looking at Mini as a Beetle-fighter...that's truly not the case. Each and everyone of them came out very impressed (with that little smile on the face cornering) after test driving mine.
#33
09-02-2008, 12:59 PM
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Well since Shellbell brought up the whole "CULT" thing, I guess now its out in the open and we can talk about it freely.
What some of us "CULT" members do is make a recording of the following incantation:
I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's..
Play this either under her pillow or as close to her head as possible at night when she goes to sleep.
After about one week you can start adding the word MINI into your normal everyday sentences.
For example: Hi honey! Did you have a MINI day?
Before she even knows what is happening to her she will start to crave MINI's.
If she likes chocolates (What women doesn't) then buy her a large bag of MINI M&M's.
I'm telling you that after a few weeks of this intense Cultification she will either leave
you for good or she'll want a MINI of her own.
What some of us "CULT" members do is make a recording of the following incantation:
I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's.. I LOVE MINI's..
Play this either under her pillow or as close to her head as possible at night when she goes to sleep.
After about one week you can start adding the word MINI into your normal everyday sentences.
For example: Hi honey! Did you have a MINI day?
Before she even knows what is happening to her she will start to crave MINI's.
If she likes chocolates (What women doesn't) then buy her a large bag of MINI M&M's.
I'm telling you that after a few weeks of this intense Cultification she will either leave
you for good or she'll want a MINI of her own.
#34
09-02-2008, 01:28 PM
6th Gear
I have an anecdote to share with the OP:
I came to the MINI after my husband spent several years nursing an '87 German built VW Golf Cabriolet. He loved this car even though it bled our wallets dry. I understood the car love thing because my dad had an obsession with a Mustang when I was a kid, so when he told me he wanted one, I said "Okay, let's find one." I know what having that car meant to my Dad, even if it wasn't something I shared with him, it was important to him. Money was coming in well for us, we could afford to have a car worked on, and his commute to work was short. I had a relatively new Corolla that never complained, so I was willing to take a chance on it.
After five years, and twice yearly trips to the mechanic and junkyard diving for parts for this car, even though my husband loved the car and had never had more fun driving anything in his life, he finally decided to call it quits. What finally killed the car for him was that the car had just been in the shop for one of its bi-annual six hundred dollar repairs when the car broke down on his birthday in the worst downpour of the entire year. He and my son had to push it home, uphill.
That was it.
The day we sold that car was the saddest day of his life. That car was his other love, and I was glad that we shared some of our life with the car. As a family, we had a lot of fun kicking around town with the top down in the summers, and people stare at convertibles and smile, even if they are crappy old circa 1980's VW cheerleader cars. There's something about that that just makes you smile too.
So when I sat down in front of the configurator for the first time on MINIusa.com and then went back again the next day... my husband knew that I had finally found my other love. So he never once tried to hold me back.
As long as your other isn't holding you back, and is willing to take a chance on what you love, you'll be just fine. She'll either get it, or she won't, but that's not what's important. What's important is, is she willing to accept that you love your car like you do? You need to answer that question because these things really are important to relationships.
Good luck, and welcome to MINI Motoring Love.
I came to the MINI after my husband spent several years nursing an '87 German built VW Golf Cabriolet. He loved this car even though it bled our wallets dry. I understood the car love thing because my dad had an obsession with a Mustang when I was a kid, so when he told me he wanted one, I said "Okay, let's find one." I know what having that car meant to my Dad, even if it wasn't something I shared with him, it was important to him. Money was coming in well for us, we could afford to have a car worked on, and his commute to work was short. I had a relatively new Corolla that never complained, so I was willing to take a chance on it.
After five years, and twice yearly trips to the mechanic and junkyard diving for parts for this car, even though my husband loved the car and had never had more fun driving anything in his life, he finally decided to call it quits. What finally killed the car for him was that the car had just been in the shop for one of its bi-annual six hundred dollar repairs when the car broke down on his birthday in the worst downpour of the entire year. He and my son had to push it home, uphill.
That was it.
The day we sold that car was the saddest day of his life. That car was his other love, and I was glad that we shared some of our life with the car. As a family, we had a lot of fun kicking around town with the top down in the summers, and people stare at convertibles and smile, even if they are crappy old circa 1980's VW cheerleader cars. There's something about that that just makes you smile too.
So when I sat down in front of the configurator for the first time on MINIusa.com and then went back again the next day... my husband knew that I had finally found my other love. So he never once tried to hold me back.
As long as your other isn't holding you back, and is willing to take a chance on what you love, you'll be just fine. She'll either get it, or she won't, but that's not what's important. What's important is, is she willing to accept that you love your car like you do? You need to answer that question because these things really are important to relationships.
Good luck, and welcome to MINI Motoring Love.
Last edited by RandomGemini; 09-02-2008 at 01:33 PM. Reason: Hit the button too soon, hadn't finished writing!
#35
09-02-2008, 01:38 PM
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I really don't expect my girlfriend to understand the Mini thing. Hell, some of my guy friends don't understand it.
I don't understand her need to have a stupidly expensive purse that has ugly designs all over it...."how much was that thing? Oh really *internal dialogue*...I could have bought rally lights with that money...."
Or her need for a closet-full of shoes.
But then again, I want my girlfriend to dislike or not understand my Mini. It just means I'm the only one driving it. How terrible would it be if you girlfriend loved it and always wanted to drive?
Consider yourself lucky!
I don't understand her need to have a stupidly expensive purse that has ugly designs all over it...."how much was that thing? Oh really *internal dialogue*...I could have bought rally lights with that money...."
Or her need for a closet-full of shoes.
But then again, I want my girlfriend to dislike or not understand my Mini. It just means I'm the only one driving it. How terrible would it be if you girlfriend loved it and always wanted to drive?
Consider yourself lucky!
#36
09-02-2008, 01:42 PM
i'm am not a mini fan or sportman, i'm a straight up junkie. i wanted and waited and saved for a year to get it and now it's here and i love it. break in was completed in 10 days. nmmini.org is doing a run down hwy 191 next week. i mentioned it to her and was met with the response "umm so your going to drive 4 hours to go drive with some other minis?" she didn't ask to see it for a week when i got it. i figured she was just being a hater because it's wayyyy nicer then her 08 mazda 3, but now i think she's just clueless. she asks "what's the big deal with that car? cause it's little?" how do you explain that which is the MINI to someone? explain 40 years of heritage. the rallies, the races, the awards, the movies. the fact that i didn't go to a dealer and pick a car that had the things i wanted, but that several people came to work one day to build my car. for me. the smile when i knife through traffic like a light saber through warm butter. when people look in the window and say "holy ***** there is a lot of room in here!" will she ever "get it"? or just let her take the bus....
Hello....My name is Matt......ANd I.....I am addicted to MINI Motoring!!!!
#38
09-02-2008, 01:49 PM
Ha, this was a great thread. You guys are proposing all sorts of scenarios. I can understand your girl friend in not "understanding" MINIS. All you have to admit MINIS are not mainstream, and some people simply don't get that a MINI is not JUST a little car that looks cool. When I first saw these machines I was not a huge fan, but as I began to see them more and more in all their configurations they began to grw on me. They have now grown on me to the point of custom building a laser blue MCS hard top. YIPPEE! I know some of my friends will never understand, but at least we do. ***** conformity.
#39
09-02-2008, 01:58 PM
I rented one for only a weekend here in germany, On Monday the shop called an asked where is the car. I told them Id like to keep it, they said no. I said extend the contract for a full month, NO Scheise. 3 months later I bought a Brand new cooper S NEVER having ANY experience before or want of a MINI. Its Like highly addictive, I have 35,000 Kilometers on My R56S in 13 months. She has toured ALL of Europe. Some people dont get it....thats a good thing, it leaves more MINI for ME
#40
09-02-2008, 02:09 PM
I'm lucky I've got a wife who shares the MINI thing, but we couldn't share one MINI.
#41
09-02-2008, 04:15 PM
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#42
09-02-2008, 04:29 PM
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I can understand this. I have a high end sewing machine, likely the Cooper MINI of the sewing world (all german engineering though) and the day that I think my husband would like to join a sewing class or a quilting bee I'd better start taking some heavy pharmaceuticals.I agree that having separate interests can also make good quality separate time to share in conversation later together.
Good luck on finding a compromise and acceptance because for me that is a big part of a long term relationship.
#43
09-02-2008, 04:33 PM
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#44
09-02-2008, 04:42 PM
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I'm officially calling for a vote, to remove you from your Mini's title.
#45
09-02-2008, 04:53 PM
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#46
09-02-2008, 04:54 PM
Hold on a sec those-who-suggest-dumping....You can't choose who you love! (MINIMedic - I realize this may not be your "forever" other, but one never knows.)
I married my disbeliever - and no matter how much I involve him in the history, the community, the co-pilot duties, camera man duties, * I EVEN let him drive a few times!!!* etc....he just does NOT get it. He IS glad to know there are other people out there even CRAZIER than I am about the car, but...
And you think four hours is bad? I just went on a 1,243 mile "fun run" with my club, where I had to drive SIX hours, just to meet up with them. The husband looked at the proposed route, and said, "Hon, PLEASE don't make me go...I'll throw up." Um, IT WAS THE DRAGON!?!?!?! Horrible. Just horrible. He now knows, however, that there is NO diss-ing the MINI, and don't tell me "No" to spending money on the car.
Unfortunately, sweetie...it's just something ya gotta live with. As long as you set the ground rules first. No MINI bashing. Ever. And just make it as pleasant (her definition, not just yours) as possible when you DO try to include her in the MINIverse.....
I married my disbeliever - and no matter how much I involve him in the history, the community, the co-pilot duties, camera man duties, * I EVEN let him drive a few times!!!* etc....he just does NOT get it. He IS glad to know there are other people out there even CRAZIER than I am about the car, but...
And you think four hours is bad? I just went on a 1,243 mile "fun run" with my club, where I had to drive SIX hours, just to meet up with them. The husband looked at the proposed route, and said, "Hon, PLEASE don't make me go...I'll throw up." Um, IT WAS THE DRAGON!?!?!?! Horrible. Just horrible. He now knows, however, that there is NO diss-ing the MINI, and don't tell me "No" to spending money on the car.
Unfortunately, sweetie...it's just something ya gotta live with. As long as you set the ground rules first. No MINI bashing. Ever. And just make it as pleasant (her definition, not just yours) as possible when you DO try to include her in the MINIverse.....
#47
09-02-2008, 04:55 PM
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There is "motoring enthusiast" and "seamstress." The former is for men and women alike. The latter is for women and sissys. The analogy doesn't hold.
I second for the vote. Ban for comparing a MINi -- or any real car for that matter -- to a sewing machine.
#48
09-02-2008, 05:22 PM
If it doesn't work out, there's plenty of us single MINI-lovin' chicks around!
#49
09-02-2008, 05:29 PM
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