The Shawshank Redemption Tunnel To The Man Cave
One of my all time favorite movies is Shawshank Redemption; I could watch that movie a hundred times and never get tired of it. If I run across it while I’m channel surfing, I always stop what I’m doing for my pals Andy Defresne and Red.
“Sometimes it makes me sad, though… Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice. But still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they’re gone. I guess I just miss my friend.”
That’s my favorite quote from the movie, but my favorite part is when the warden realizes Andy has escaped from Shawshank via a tunnel he has dug through the years from his cell, hidden by posters of Rita Hayworth and Racquel Welch.
I’m convinced my husband has taken a lesson from Andy and dug his own Shawshank secret tunnel somewhere in our house. Much like Andy Defresne escaping to freedom right under the warden’s nose, my husband appears to always find a way to the freedom of his man cave completely undetected by me. I can’t figure out how he does it. I could physically stand in the doorway of the man cave and all of a sudden hear a Manchester United game blaring upstairs or Call of Duty Black Ops guns going off, and he would have never passed by me, much less made it up the stairs without me seeing him.
I have searched for posters of Rita Hayworth and Racquel Welch in our house to no avail. I know it isn’t in our sewer system because we’re on a septic tank. I have checked behind all hanging pictures, under furniture, and in all closets. I can’t find his stupid tunnel, but I know he has one, and Sayle doesn’t know where it is either because my husband always ends up in the man cave by himself!
And it doesn’t matter what kind of circus I have going on downstairs, he will still manage to conveniently make it to the man cave. Sayle could be running around with a stinky soaked diaper smearing spaghetti sauce on the walls, our dogs could be covered in mud rolling on our carpet, the house could be on fire, and I could be fatally bleeding laid out on the floor-and he would make it to the man cave without seeing any of it. This only validates my theory of the Shawshank tunnel as there is no way he could possibly miss any of that going on if he was anywhere in the house itself. There must be some special force in the tunnel and man cave that blocks out any sense of reality going on in the rest of the house and it irritates the crap out of me.
Is it just my house, or does your house have a Shawshank Redemption tunnel to the man cave too?
This blog struck a chord with me because Granddad suffers with the same ‘escape tunnel’ attitude! I call it ‘selective’ hearing and blindness. I feel as if I could burst into flames right in front of him and yet still be ignored when Manchester United are on the TV! Although we don’t have a ‘man-cave’ he can also disappear to the computer screen without being spotted when chores are calling! Maybe it is hereditary?!
We don’t have a man cave in our house…but after reading this blog, I’m intrigued. I too have the selective listening disease that plagues most husbands, but I have not mastered the art of being undetected. Perhaps your husband would be willing to share his secret…?
Grandma-I think it is completely hereditary as I personally witnessed the amazing Granddad demonstrating the EXACT behavior-and I don’t think it is a learned behavior at all. It is ingrained in their genes. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have selective hearing and seeing for one day! Unfortunately, if I miss a beat or selectively hear something, things blow up so I am not afforded that luxury!
Paul-every man deserves a man cave before having children. When we built our house I thought it was a fantastic idea! Now I’m not so much a fan! While I’m sure my husband would love to teach a fellow selective listener how to go undetected, I don’t want Erin beating down my door when she figures out you have a tunnel too. I like her way too much for that! You will have to find him on Call of Duty Black Ops to ask him!!!
PS-ERIN I HOPE YOU READ THIS, YOU OWE ME ONE!!!