METAIRIE – If there’s one thing that will drive most guys away from a TV faster than you can say “where’s the remote?” – it’s one of those corny Christmas shows on the Hallmark Channel.
The general plot of those shows goes pretty much like this: Single mom returns to her hometown around the holidays, and her family immediately tries to set her up with an eligible bachelor who just happened to move to the same small town. He’s handsome and sweet, but gosh, what a buffoon he made of himself at the town’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Should single mom still go for him?
Of course! They fall in love, just as a light snowfall makes the little town glow like Bethlehem. Cue the credits and cut to commercial.
Women swoon… and men race for the door.
So how can a woman get her man to watch one of these sappy shows? Bribe him!
Last Christmas, Brittany Graves, of Haslet, TX, came up with a way to turn those melodramatic moments into a merry little drinking game– and the idea took off.
Every time there’s a predictable plot twist, a cliched phrase, the sound of jingle bells in the distance (“Is that you, Clarence?”) take a drink.
If you follow Graves’ game rules while you watch one of those Hallmark shows or ubiquitous Christmas movies (“Billy, where’d you put the money!) you’ll get merry, that’s for sure. Take one sip every time one of the characters has a Christmas-y name, like “Holly” or “Joy” and two sips if one of the characters wears an ugly Christmas sweater or tie.
Finally, when a Scrooge-like character comes to his senses and embraces the Christmas spirit, you get to finish the whole drink!
So ladies, if you’ve got a man who’d rather clean a gutter than watch a holiday movie with you– offer him a drink.
Because really, how can you enjoy the holidays watching a Christmas special, if you’re “Home Alone”?