Bachelor 19 - Chris Soules - General Discussion - *Spoilers*

I guess they ate pretty well, though.

Kashathediva wrote:I don't think the issue is Chris is rolling with the pigs 24/7.
I think the issue is farming is serious business 24/7. It's a hard business. It is a far different business then having another type of business.
Yes, they have money and it can remove certain issues from the equation and make life more comfortable. But when you live in a town that small, it also makes life difficult in many aspects. I know--I lived in a small town--although quite larger than this, from 18 until 34 yrs old. When you come into this lifestyle--you are an outsider. Period. That alone is another variable.

But--we are discussing TB. This joke of a reality show.
They are going to take the Prince Farming and make him into a real prize. Puts a whole new spin on Meat and Geek.

Now that is a very cute pig.   

Being a future wife of a farmer is not very glamorous to a lot of women (compared to wife of a race car driver, doctor, athlete)
especially to those women that are usually casted for TB.

I loved Jeremiah from Sweet Home Alabama and Paige lived with him for a time. He is also a farmer and (musician) and lives in Minnesota. Farmers are very interesting people. I guess Chris is more Sweet Home Alabama type of Bachelor.

I probably would still watch if its Arie but the fact the he got naked with nasty Courtney and high maintenance Selma makes him unattractive to me. His type of women are not my cup of tea, which is why I watch Bachelor anyway for the women. I know he will not go for the kind of Bachelorette I like. Fleiss just always use his fandom to create a buzz especially if the real Bachelor candidate cannot create a buzz on his own.

I just want a couple I could root for, for a change.

Thanks for the welcome! I didn't mean to upset anyone nor do I take offense to peoples opinions. I do agree they need to cast girls that understand the Midwest lifestyle. We aren't all hicks and we do have Target and Starbucks! People here are very welcoming and honestly nice. Where else do 20,000+ people gather from across the nation to ride their bikes across the state "just because"?

I hope that if Chris is chosen they give him a chance with girls that know what America's Heartland is all about.

Iowa_hawk_fan wrote:Thanks for the welcome!  I didn't mean to upset anyone nor do I take offense to peoples opinions. I do agree they need to cast girls that understand the Midwest lifestyle.  We aren't all hicks and we do have Target and Starbucks!  People here are very welcoming and honestly nice. Where else do 20,000+ people gather from across the nation to ride their bikes across the state "just because"?

I hope that if Chris is chosen they give him a chance with girls that know what America's Heartland is all about.

  
It's about time someone posted something like this. You'd swear he was expecting someone to move to the North Pole & live in an igloo, or to the outer reaches of Siberia, or like that tribe they just found in Africa that had never seen civilization. It's Iowa, for cryin' out loud. They're not a bunch of hicks or hillbillies either.
They have cell phones, high speed internet, and as you said, Target & Starbucks, Malls, freeways, and most other amenities. Even from out in the country where Chris lives, it's not all that far to the nearest larger city/town. I'll bet people drive in on a regular basis. Even in the Winter, the highways are kept clear & drivable. They're not isolated from the world out there.

How many people living in huge cities drive to work for about an hour & a half, in bumper to bumper traffic, moving-stopping-sitting, moving-stopping sitting? Every single day. I know I did. That's how long it took me to get to work, & I lived just under 15 miles from my office.
So driving an hour on highways with way less traffic to get to work in a larger city/town wouldn't be all that different. Maybe less frustrating not dealing with the constant every day traffic jams & road rage.

The peace of coming home to the peace & quiet & beauty of the farm in the evenings would be lovely. A woman with a professional job would do just fine there. Plus I'll bet there are stores, restaurants, shops, etc. where a person could get a basic job, if that's what they'd prefer.
The bimbos & fame seekers & those looking for a fast paced nightlife (not exactly conducive to a family life), are the ones who wouldn't want it.

Gotta say I'm getting an extremely interesting, and double sided, portrait of Iowa here.  Prior to this, my points of reference were The Music Man and Field of Dreams.  Will the real Iowa please stand up?   

Wonder if Andi smelled the pigs?   

My two favorite farmers.  








Chris is really not a bad idea for TB to be honest.

I am loving this thread because, while there are some funny comments thrown in, it is a real discussion with pros and cons of a rural Iowan lifestyle.  Here are a few of my random thoughts, JMHO:

As someone who personally likes Arie  and thinks he has a good heart and sincerely wants to find his special someone and settle down, I was hoping he'd get the gig IF that is what HE wanted.  My wish also came with the apprehensions that TPTB will/would stir up drama on the show, he would be manipulated by TPTB, or he would end up heartbroken or unsuccessful at the end.  So, IF these rumors are true that Chris is the next Bachelor, all of those apprehensions are now projected onto him.  Instead of Arie-drama we will get Chris-drama.  I think I would prefer to watch Arie-drama because I find him to be entertaining, so even if there is stupid scripted drama surrounding him, I'd still have him (if that makes sense). So, as much as posters were warning the Arie fans to be careful what you wish for...touche'. Ball appears to be in your court now.

I've lived in suburia my whole life. 2 hours from NYC and Boston. It's the best of both worlds in my opinion because I own my own home with my own yard, am surrounded by natural beauty of trees/gardens/brooks, have every convenience a short drive from my house, can commute to work in about 40 min, can easily visit NYC or Boston for cultural events but find that most of my cultural needs can easily be met within 30 mins of my home, and it's been a good place to raise my family. But, if I want a taste of the Big Apple or Beantown, it is a short drive away.  This is the life I have known and love.  For somebody else, living in a large urban city has its draw, and for somebody else living in a more rural area has its draw. I think that a transition to a rural area would be easier for a person accustomed to a suburban area than a urban area.  I am reminded of a line from On the Waterfront when Terry asks Edie about living outside of the city for school.  He says "crickets make me nervous". I think that where the contestants are from (what cities they currently live in) will be very interesting.

It's 2014. Most women aspire to be and do many things throughout their lifetime. This may include higher education, a career, traveling, raising a family, having a social life, and hobbies, as well as other things.  If life has taught me anything it's that no two women are exactly alike and that you may be able to 'have it all' but most likely it won't be 'all at the same time'.  Chris is 32(?) so I hope that they chose women for the show that are 30+. My reasoning is that the typical (not all, but average) woman who has gone to 2-4-6 years of college and then starts off on her career, is 20-22-24 years old, will not be eager to turn the page so quickly (especially in this high risk tv relationship). Most 20-29 year olds will still be primarily focused on putting that degree to good use, earning back the money they invested into that degree, and not wanting to give that up 'for a man'.  After working for several years, and after being in a solid longterm relationship, a woman may decide that she wants to start a family, cut back on her work schedule, move to a lower stress job.  To me, this seems much more feasible with a woman who is 30-ish. I think that a women with certain careers that are flexible or a woman who likes to work outside the home but who isn't concerned with climbing the corporate ladder, could make it happen in Arlington. I also think that a woman who would prefer to stop working to be a stay at home mom might be able to assimilate into town life more easily via the role of mother when she has child rearing and school/activities in common with the other women. Being one of the mothers would give her a possibly peer group. I was struck by what Kasha wrote about being seen as an outsider in very small community.  That wasn't something that I had previously thought about. The woman who is outgoing, open minded, a little more interested in family and community than her own needs/wants, would be somebody who might fare better.  Again, somebody slightly older may have had a few more life experiences under her belt, gotten to do some of those independent things previously, and may now have the maturity it takes to pivot into the role of wife, mother, community member.  I know that when I was in my 20s my focus was work, and I had no involvement in the towns that I lived in.  It wasn't until my 30s when I had my children, and through their years of school/activities that I met and befriended many people in my new town.

charriotoffire wrote:My two favorite farmers.  








Chris is really not a bad idea for TB to be honest.  

Charr , I totally agree Especially on Jeremiah , Hes been my favorite Farmer since SHA season .
 :Jeremiah : 

Mia, I agree with your sentiments.  I was also thinking that women in their late 20s-early 30s would be more likely to be interested/ready to concentrate more on settling down and raising children in a family oriented environment than in getting their careers off the ground, and thus would be the better fit for Chris.  I hope they don't throw him a bunch of 23 year olds.

As far as feeling like an outsider in a small town, I suspect that being TB will make Chris a local celebrity of sorts and his wife will be given a warm welcome, at least initially, just based on that.

One of the other things Chris has going for him which is being overlooked is his wonderful family.  I believe that Andi really did have the best time with them, so they must be pretty great (they seemed so on the show).  And since he has sisters, his wife will have some built in girlfriends right off the bat to smooth the way for her.

I'm not really a Chris fan, so I won't be heartbroken if he ends up choosing badly or if we find out he has a lot of "warts".  I just found him to be a nice, articulate and emotionally mature guy with some real substance (attractive, but not really my type, am trying to see the Matthew McConaughey resemblance people speak of, since I find him HOT), and I saw flashes of humor and wit which I'm hoping will come out on his own season.  And I guess since he was being dismissed here so much, I felt the need to defend him with a bit of snark.  

ironcat wrote:Mia, I agree with your sentiments.  I was also thinking that women in their late 20s-early 30s would be more likely to be interested/ready to concentrate more on settling down and raising children in a family oriented environment than in getting their careers off the ground, and thus would be the better fit for Chris.  I hope they don't throw him a bunch of 23 year olds.

As far as feeling like an outsider in a small town, I suspect that being TB will make Chris a local celebrity of sorts and his wife will be given a warm welcome, at least initially, just based on that.

One of the other things Chris has going for him which is being overlooked is his wonderful family.  I believe that Andi really did have the best time with them, so they must be pretty great (they seemed so on the show).  And since he has sisters, his wife will have some built in girlfriends right off the bat to smooth the way for her.

I'm not really a Chris fan, so I won't be heartbroken if he ends up choosing badly or if we find out he has a lot of "warts".  I just found him to be a nice, articulate and emotionally mature guy with some real substance (attractive, but not really my type, am trying to see the Matthew McConaughey resemblance people speak of, since I find him HOT), and I saw flashes of humor and wit which I'm hoping will come out on his own season.  And I guess since he was being dismissed here so much, I felt the need to defend him with a bit of snark.  

I agree with you. I hope they pick a slightly older group of bachelorettes, hopefully with some business background to help out on the business aspect of the farm or with a career that is easily completed from home. There are telecommuters in lots of industry now, claim adjusters, bill reviewers, web design, lawyers (until they have to go to court, which isn't often), graphic design (think Catherine) and probably others I can't think of.

I think Chris is already a celebrity if you see pictures on the web with his "fans". He made an appearance at RAGBRAI (the bike race mentioned by Iowa Hawkeye), showed a steer at the Iowa state fair in a celebrity show, and is judging a cook-off at the fair either today or tomorrow. Pretty sure anyone that comes into his life will be known by the community. I see the local school is pretty close to Chris's home so it's always possible that she could get a job at the local school.

I noticed that several of the casting calls were in smaller towns than normal: that is one of the things that made me think Chris would be the Bachelor. They also casted in some larger towns so I'm pretty sure he will have to wade through the actress wanna-bes and hopefully isn't taken in by those that don't have any desire to move to Iowa.

rc49ers wrote:

charriotoffire wrote:My two favorite farmers.  








Chris is really not a bad idea for TB to be honest.  

Charr , I totally agree Especially on Jeremiah , Hes been my favorite Farmer since SHA season .
 :Jeremiah : 

I love Jeremiah...He's my very favorite farmer of all...He never bored me for a minute . <3

Just decided to do a little research, and Arlington is only 70 miles (a little over an hour's drive) from Cedar Rapids, which is the 2nd largest city in Iowa with a population of 250,000. They must have a Starbucks there, no? To me, that doesn't sound quite so desolate and awful, unless you really want a metro/city life. And Chicago is about a 4 hour drive, so certainly doable for a weekend away. Hopefully, Chris knows how to "sell" Arlington to the (right) ladies.