The whole story is hilarious! But this bit in particular:
reminds me of a story of my own.
My ex was fond of "outdoorsy" stuff -- hiking, caving, rappelling, all that sort of thing. I am... well, "Not an Outdoorsy Person" doesn't even BEGIN to cover it. So normally I sent him off on his outdoorsy fixes by himself or with other friends.
One time, though, I decided to go along with him and his parents on a hiking / sightseeing trip to a state park. We stayed in a cabin (I *don't* do tents!) and wandered around all the different hiking trails, checking out the wildlife and wildflowers as we went. Pretty mild as these things go -- but a lot of the trails were (I thought) *far* too close to the edge of something, and it seemed like no matter which way we went, it was all uphill.
At one point, Tom's mother remarked about how nice it was that I was adapting well and having a good time. Well, I didn't want to SAY anything -- but I did quietly hum the opening line of Christine Lavin's "Good Thing He Can't Read My Mind" [1]. Tom recognized it immediately, and we *both* started cracking up, much to his parents' confusion. We never did explain just what was so funny, and I'm not really sorry I went -- but once was enough, thank you!
[1] I later wrote a filk verse about the experience:"Now look at me, I'm hiking when I do not like hiking, But he loves hiking, and I love him. I'm climbing up a hillside and it feels like it's a mountain, There's a canyon right below me and I'm on the rim! The footing is unstable and there's nothing to hold onto; How'd I get talked into anything of this kind? I do not like hiking, but look at me, I'm hiking -- It's a good thing he can't read my mind!"
Celine