"I wonder what this frozen pole tastes like!"

What is the stupidest thing someone our age could decide to do?

Prostitutes?

Drunk-driving?

Treason?

No, actually, the absolute most moronic thing to do at age 21 is to get MARRIED. 

My mother has a friend and this friend has a son who is my age and he will be marrying his girlfriend of two years in May. Right after they graduate college. Way to wait.

I was absolutely speechless when I heard this. The only people I know who could fathom getting married that early are redneck hicks who need to have 17 children and had thus better get a move on. Oh, and also our parents. 

I recently met a guy whose parents have been married over 20 years and still love each other. Allegedly. I'm thinking they should be in a museum or something.

Obviously my view of marriage isn't very rosy. Most of my friends come from broken homes and those that don't, have parents who need to wake up, smell the coffee, and hightail it to a divorce attorney. Staying together for the kids is as stupid a reason as staying together for the tax benefits. Children pick up on the fact that their parents dream of taking a chainsaw to each others body parts and start hanging out with crack whores. True story.

I'm not saying I'm never getting married. Or that I think all marriages are doomed to fail. I just think you need to do the absolute most possible to make sure that they are a success. Know each other for a really long time first. Preferably more than 2 years, though less than...say...80. Make sure that they adore as much as you do, your kids, pets, culture, or that really ugly lamp that is the one thing you would save in case of a fire. Big important issues like, "I think your ancestors were heathens and I need you to renounce them once and for all" should be addressed before rings are exchanged. And for God's sake, finish school, establish a career for yourself and then marry to your heart's content. 

Yes, I'm a little jaded. My mother left my father after about 2 years of marriage and was then a single parent for over a decade. Hard on me, yes, but nothing compared to what it was like for her. One would think that after her experiences my mother would recognize this for the disaster that it is sure to be. She, however, says I'm being overly cynical. Though coming from the woman who married the man who calls me naive and idealistic as many times as is possible to fit into a conversation, I find that rather ironic. 

Of course I wish nothing but happiness for this couple, who I don't even know. Perhaps they are incredibly level-headed, have given this a tremendous amount of thought, and are in fact each others soul-mates. Perhaps they will be together forever, and not out of some sense of misplaced duty. I just think that there isn't any reason to get married now, when things are already complicated enough, when you can do it 5, 6 years later and understand a lot better whether you really do want to wake up next to this same person for the rest of your life. 

Disclaimer: This post may seem rather harsh because I am still in shock.  I don't mean to insult anyone especially not my mother, who has totally provided me with a happy childhood, though has also acted as a cautionary tale. And I really, really hope this doesn't make its way over to the people this is about (please, Mom) but if it does, please don't be insulted. I have boundary issues I'm working on.