FOCCUS II

In all truthfulness, it wasn’t that bad. The fun part comes next time when we go through the test results.

We went to the couple’s house which, coincidentally, just happens to be right down the street from Adam’s parents’ house. It’s a nice place and they have a cute, friendly black lab named Maggie. We had the small talk for a while, getting to know each other. Then they pulled out the test. (Dah, dah, DUM!!!)

Ok, so it’s not a “test.” It’s an “inventory.” A 180+ question survey covering all kinds of subjects from finances to children to problem-solving. We got to do the special “Cohabitating couples” and “interfaith couples” sections. I think my favorite question on the whole “inventory” was the last one in the “cohabitating couples” section. It said, basically, “You know the church disapproves that you’re living together, right?” Bwahahahaha.

Some of the questions were kind of funny (“I think I’ll be uncomfortable being nude in front of my future spouse” – whoops, too late for that! “I have homosexual urges that I’m concerned about” – so if you’re not concerned it’s ok?) but there were some questions I had problems with. Mostly the religion ones. There were others that I wasn’t quite sure how to answer given that my only options were approve, disapprove, or uncertain. Sometimes I wanted to add comments in the margins but I guess that’s what the second meeting is for. I know there will be some areas that will be flagged. But I think it will be a good experience overall.

These test creators sure were trying to trick you though. Double negatives, a sneaky “un” which changed the whole question. “I am uncertain that I don’t not want to marry this person.” Uhm, what? Hopefully they didn’t catch me on any of the questions where I meant yes but filled in the disapprove circle.

It also brought up some things that Adam and I realized we hadn’t even thought about. Nothing earth-shattering or anything. Just interesting points that we hadn’t talked about.

We meet with them again in a few weeks. They’ll be making homemade pizza while we talk things through. Supposedly to make it a bit more fun and not so serious and scary.