My whole life I kinda figured the one purpose of marriage was to give your wife that “dream day” she dreamt about when she was a kid. It had nothing to do with commitment or status, it was just kind of a big present for her. In other words, marriage had nothing of importance beyond the Wedding Ceremony+honeymoon.
Now just imagine sitting next to her on a plane and she stares at you and starts a conversation about OG Transformers…
Then suddenly! The plane nosedives!
…You awake from your slumber, your head gently nestled betwixt her bosom as she’s stroking your concussed head.
You then realize you’re stuck on a deserted island with Vanessa Morgan, and will be there for the next 2 years.
…Unfortunately, the only supplies that made it on shore were a suitcase of bikinis, and 2 large suitcases full of Nair and baby oil.
The nair is a really nice touch.
Declining to do something because it has no perceptible, compelling advantage over what you’re already doing is not the same thing as actively avoiding it. Unless that thing is inevitable, which (as I already pointed out) it certainly isn’t, at least not in this case.
I remember reading Thingsmygirlfriendandiargueabout.com. The writer (British, incidentally) would talk about emails he got from people who read the site. One conversation he had over and over again was…
Person: If you and your girlfriend fight so much, why don’t you dump her?
Writer: She’s the mother of my kids, I like being around her, and I love her.
Person: Then why aren’t you married to her?
Writer: We already live together and have kids together. What would be the point?
Person: People who do those things get married.
Writer: …
My paraphrasing, of course. It has been a while.
According to the writer, the majority of those conversations were with Americans. I don’t know if it’s a uniquely American mentality, but it seems that marriage is something that’s simply taken as a given for a lot of people. Marriage is the default course of action for couples who haven’t immediately come to loathe each other.
For my part, my default position for anything is that I don’t do something unless I have an active, specific reason. The strength of the reason has to be proportionate to the weight of whatever it is that I’d be doing. That’s the ideal, at least.
this like some sort of sperglord olympics or something
Loving the Avatar Boel.
fatmac is wonderful because of the metacomedy that happens when his wife gives him superreal looks of revulsion, too bad he had to lose the weight after filming 
I always got the vibe that people just got married because it’s such a common thing that they just blindly follow it(among other things) without question. Like sheep.
If you find yourself in a long-term relationship in which marriage is of no importance to either of you, you are half of an “old hippy couple.” What fault would I find in that? None.
If you’re interpreting “die alone” literally, then yes, the vast majority of people do in fact die alone.
If you don’t believe in marriage, you shouldn’t get married. If you don’t believe in God, you shouldn’t pray. Reasonable people don’t judge people for their lack of faith. Or for their disinclination to be wed.
In the end, most people that get married shouldn’t. And far fewer of them should have kids. No one with an aversion to marriage should get married. Most will.
I thought I said that…
Got a surprise birthday cake…of Iron Man.
And a Randy Orton Action figure…because I watch WWE.
Yeah…I’m old.
Thanks my parents.
(I can’t believe until just a couple days ago I had forgotten how much I liked “KRool Intentions”. So good.)
I’d actually be surprised if the whole wedding mentality didn’t apply to Britain as a whole as well, goody. It seems more like a “Western” problem than simply an American one, though it wouldn’t surprise me to know that it’s most prevalent here with our penchant for hypocrisy.
Even though other people have already utterly eviscerated your argument, I have to quip at your last couple of posts as well because this is exactly the false moral high ground that disgusts me, especially since it’s justified by absolutely nothing and at odds with so many things.
One of those things it belies is, “ironically”, your very own sentiment as seen by the other bold part. So, I have to ask this series of questions: If you’re not worried about other people “looking in”, then how/why the hell is getting married the “ultimate” sign of commitment that shows that certain couples are better than other couples who are not “as good” just because they didn’t go through what was essentially signing a contract? Shouldn’t all couples with parties who truly care about each other be on equal with one another “goodness”-wise whether they’re married or not if that’s what you honestly believed? Why is marriage “inevitable” in the first place even if neither party has doubts with regards to its feelings towards the other person (or people)? (Speaking of which, though this is unrelated to the main argument, why can there only be a commitment to only one other person [at the same time]?)
You and Vynce the only one acting like it’s clear cut; TIS at least admitted that he got married simply because things worked out for him and he was confused why certain types of people got married rather than saying everyone should get married. The very fact that you’re still implying being unmarried is automatically the same as “being alone” speaks to this among other things; acting like marriage is an inevitability that has to be specifically avoided, as goody pointed out, is another.
Ugh, this reminds me of that circumcision debate flared up a couple of months ago (not on SRK; at least, not that I’m aware): When did the natural state of being (unmarried, uncircumcised) become the odd man out just because the altered state of being (married, circumcised) is relatively common? Commonality isn’t the same thing as inevitability.
As asked above, why is marriage the “final step” (to you) to begin with? Especially when, as ThePurpleBunny pointed out, you can bail out on marriage with relative ease–horrible litigation in some instances aside–at pretty much any time you want?
Also, you do realize that people get married without being “committed” or “in love” or even caring about each other relatively often still, right? And I’m not talking about sham marriages or marriages where (the) people (involved) rush into things either, so that isn’t rhetorical.
America is still a very new culture. Compared to other nations, we were formed yesterday. I think that sense of youth as a civilization manifests itself in a lot of weird ways, least of all our peculiar differences with other, older cultures that are nominally similar to us. For example, we still have a strong Puritan streak.
HOLY SHIT ON A STICK!!!! I’VE BEEN MISSING 2 MONTHS OF SUNNY BECAUSE MOUNTAINS OF SCHOOLWORK MADE ME FORGET AND I LOST CABLE!!!
@ “imply.” you saw that video. know that bitch has warts.
also, i wonder if some married people understand how douchy they sound when they try to defend it. note: i didn’t say they were douchy, i said they sound douchy. like an Apple consumer talking to a PC person. like to a PC person, it just sounds like self affirmation to stave off the feelings of buyer’s remorse. Vynce gets it though.
this Devastation stream is miserable.
Oh. Thanks a lot dude.
Heart - Oh fuck you White Shadow.
Anxiety - WAIT! There’s still some hope. We barely like transformers.
Dick - NiggAnx please. Do you really think I would give a shit? I would find ANYTHING for us to find a common ground to talk about so I could make a connection.
Brain - He’s probably right. The REAL Question is… how long would we hold out?
Anxiety - 3 weeks?
Brain - 3 days.
Dick - :lol: :lol:
Brain - What’s so funny?
Dick - Dude… #1 In life or death situations, I usually take over. #2 We’re talking about Vanessa Morgan here. I would convince us and her that we only have a moment or two to live.
Anxiety - So?
Dick - “So?” :lol: … “So”… we would be fucking on the plane’s descent to the ground.
Brain - Sometimes… even I underestimate your appetite.
Dick - Duh. I’m like the Batman of penises. You can’t out-prep me.
Heart - So I guess answering “forever” is out of the question?
This has been THE INVINCIBLE SWORDSMAN convincing himself:
It would never happen. It would never happen.
Spoiler
That’s Faye reagan/valentine? Eh. I like “pretty” porn stars.
This has been THE INVINCIBLE SWORDSMAN saying:
Actually I heard Kylee is making a comeback.
Hey Odin, you watched that show Picnicface yet?
What the holy fuck does the East Coast do all day to be this fucked up:
[media=youtube]CMdPYya3IoA[/media]
although I have seen them do some actually hilarious skits
NSFW
Most disturbing thing I’ve seen on the internet in a while.
Lol, my friend linked me that vid yesterday. Was hilarious
in asia, if you’re over 25 and not married you’re practically a shame to your family…so marriage is far from an american problem.