« Alcohol? On Prom night? Perish the thought! | Unbelievable... »
May 08, 2003Folks are getting hitched, and other signs of the impending apocalypse...
Twenty-five can be an unsettling age.
I received an e-mail from a high school classmate of mine not long ago. Among other things, it detailed the reproductive and/or marital progress of eight or ten fellow members of the Class of 1996, herself included. As I get older, the idea of my contemporaries having spouses and children grows exponentially less and less farfetched. According to the Census Bureau, in 1998, the average age at which one first got married was 25 for women and just shy of 27 for men. That's up from ages 20 and 23 in 1970, respectively, but it's still a daunting fact. In two years, right as I reach the average marrying age for men, I'll almost be done with graduate school. If I were a slave to the numbers, I'd hear "The Wedding March" before I hear "Pomp and Circumstance" again.
There's nothing wrong with marriage or children, although I think some people are right not to dabble in either category. Those "conscientious objectors" shouldn't be stigmatized. Matrimony and parenting are like serving in the Peace Corps. It's great if a person serves, but no right-minded individual would slight somebody for deciding not to. What makes a Peace Corps volunteer's sacrifice noble is that it's a choice made with full knowledge of easier paths and less strenuous vocations. Mandatory service would suck all the altruism right out of it.
"Hey, is that Bob over there?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. That's him."
"He still hasn't served in the Peace Corps, has he?"
"Nope."
"How old is he? About forty?"
"Well, I mean…you're not surprised, are you?"
"No, not really. Bob always was something of an odd duck."
You'd not likely hear anything like the above at a party, but if you replace serving in the Peace Corps with marriage and children, that snippet of conversation suddenly doesn't sound so ludicrous. I think a lot of people get married and/or have kids because they feel like they're supposed to, and not as the result of any particularly compelling personal incentive to do so.
Oh, I cannot wait until my ten-year reunion. I'll probably pitch a fit at the first sight of baby pictures and wedding rings.
In less intimidating news, I wrote 956 words in my novel this afternoon. I'll probably tack on another 44 words tonight, just to reach that completely arbitrary (yet ever-so-satisfying) goal of at least 1,000 words per day.
And none of them will involve marriage or children.
Posted by patrick at May 8, 2003 12:15 AM
Commentscheap viagra online order viagra here viagra buy viagra order viagra viagra buy viagra
Posted by: viagra at May 16, 2004 09:20 PM
Post a comment