My husband and I found out that we were expecting two days before we were scheduled to leave for our vacation to Dublin. Now, I don’t know about you but one of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Dublin is: Pubs. (Hey, Dubliners, don’t get all upset…I know there’s much more to do there than just go to pubs but you’ve got to admit that you people sure do like your Guinness.) So, as happy and excited as we were about the news, I’d say the timing left a little to be desired. Or perhaps our choice of vacation left a little to be desired because believe me, I never would’ve agreed to go to Dublin if I knew I couldn’t drink.
I figured that once we got there we might hit a few pubs but my husband, ever the sensitive man, would decline most. Maybe he’d have some beer with dinner and I certainly wouldn’t complain about that. And of course I knew that we’d have to visit the Guinness Factory where he’d get his free Guinness and even I couldn’t make an issue out of this. (Free is free, after all.) Well, I knew I was doomed the instant we landed and we were bombarded with signs and banners touting Arthur’s Day. But I didn’t know at the time just how bad it would be.
You remember in that last paragraph when I called my husband sensitive? Yeah, not so much. He insisted on going to about 4 pubs a day. ”But they’re historic pubs!” he’d proclaim as if that made it any better for me. In fact, he had the whole Pubs to Visit section dog-eared in our guidebook and he seemed determined to hit every single one of those pubs. So, trying to be the nice wife and not spoil his vacation experience, I agreed to go to many of these pubs where he’d sit there enjoying his beer while I drank my water, growing more and more bitter with every sip. And when we went to the Guinness Factory where he claimed his free Guinness and I claimed my free Sprite, believe me when I tell you that I didn’t enjoy the experience nearly as much as he did. By the end of the trip, I was completely over it. And when, on our last day in which I thought the torture was over, he stopped in front of a pub and said, “This one’s in the book! We have to go in!”, I lost it. Full-on temper tantrum, guilt-tripping, do you care about your newly pregnant wife at all?!? lost it.
Moral of the story? Well, it’s either (a) Don’t go on vacation to a place where much of the activity is centered around drinking if you can’t drink or (b) Men are really, really insensitive when alcohol is involved.
Below is just a very small sampling of the many, many pubs I was forced to sit in while not being able to drink during our Dublin vacation:
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Sorry you couldnt drink on your trip to dublin though, not cool,
Yeah! You made it to Foley’s!!! I am sure it was the best of the bunch. Sorry about the not drinking. Did they not have any non-alcoholic beer?
Congratulations on your pregnancy!
Congrats on the expansion of ur lil family!! u guys are gonna rock at parenting!!
I think it’s true that men like beer more than women do. However, if it’s really the taste of beer that you like, then Guiness has a lo/no alcohol version you could have had.
Congrats on your pregnancy!! How exciting
And I have a feeling my fiance would do the exact same thing. I can hear it now “But baaaaabe…blah blah drinking historic beer blah blah.”
Funny post, as always!
I am lucky enough to be married to that rare specimen of a man who DOES NOT DRINK! (I know, super rare! He doesn’t like the taste of beer and very rarely has anything else) . We are also expecting our first baby in June, and I guess I should count my lucky stars that he hasn’t dragged me to any bars or pubs during my pregnancy. Go hubby!
Congratulations on your pregnancy!!!
Congrats on the pregnancy. Am I the only one who thinks it’s gonna result in a LOT more fodder for the blog?
congrats on your pregnancy! I just hope your baby doesn’t inherit any annoying habits from your husband.
I feel your pain. To not be able to throw a few back in Ireland? That’s asking the impossible. I admire your willpower and your sensitivity to allow the hubby to revel in the goodness that is Ireland’s pubs.
I’m a Foley:) Anyway that is sooo tough! I indulge a bit myself and I can imagine how hard it was in Ireland w/out drinking! 3 cheers to you for making it through the trip!!!
and PS…sorry I didn’t say before…Congrats on your pregnancy!!! That is such exciting news!
By law, at least one of you had to be drinking for the duration of the trip. Didn’t they tell you that when they checked your passports?
This happened to me!!! We had been married for 3 years and decided to take our Honeymoon finally! (We had bought a house a month prior to getting married and had no money to go on a trip.) So a month before we left to go to Puerto Vallarta to a resort that bragged about it’s “Daily Drink and was all inclusive including alcohol,” I found out I was pregnant. I cried…but now I have a healthy 6 month old and it was all worth it…oh and my hubbie wasn’t sensitive either…he was chugging those free Coronas!
I love how she casually just throws it out there – “my husband and I found out we were expecting…”! I read it through about eight times and scrolled back and forth on my Google Reader thinking I’d somehow missed it when she made the annoucement! Anyway, CONGRATS!
Congratulations! What exciting news.
Aww! You’re preggers!! Conratulations!
Oh I can’t wait to read how annoying your husband will be when he has to deal with changing diapers, baby spit up and all the joys of breast feeding….Congratulations on your pregnancy. I will pray that everything goes safe and well for you!!
I’m so sorry what you had to endure but I’m so excited about the reason you had to endure it. Congratulations!
congratulations!!! i spent one new years’ eve about 17 years ago now being the only sober person in a houseful of happy celebrants. it was hella amusing to me.
my son is 16 this last summer. he’s still a riot to be around.
Great news! Congratulations! I loved every second of pregnancy. I did get special permission to have a sip of champagne at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
yay you’re preggers. I was hoping you would be within the next year. very casual, nonchalant way to put it. i almost thought i read it wrong. you should be able to stock up on alcohol for later use at least. just worry about customs or the cost of mailing them back to the states.
many congrats on your impending consignment of joy.
Congrats on the baby to be!!
Why is it that men have to continually prove they are BUTTHEADS? I woulda dragged his drunk butt to the sweater shops and the Waterford Crystal store and at least scored some cool Irish products! It would of been funnier when he got the credit card bill!!
Congratulations! I can’t wait to read what type of annoying father your annoying husband is going to be
Did you ever think to mention to your husband that the drinking might be an issue?
I don’t think it’s fair that you just expected him to just read your mind and know that you were having a problem with him, when the only feedback you ever gave him was agreeing to go to these places.
Playing the “nice wife” doesn’t really work, if all you’re doing is just building up things to yell about later.