Just Two Nerds

It was an hour before Tony would come home, the housework was done or could wait, I was tired of studying and nothing was on tv. So, I was reading news online, and found this. It seems that with so many potential life partners out there, people are too overwhelmed to figure out whom they like and love. Enter the arranged marriage. It’s not just for financial security, to preserve social class or to make sure the family name keeps (or gains) respect. It seems that having parents identify, meet with, and evaluate potential mates for their children is the next “craze”. If this initial, short, meeting goes well (talk about making a good first impression), the match-making proceeds, and soon everyone is coming together with the excitement of a wedding. And oh, apparently these couples fall in love during the birth of their first child.

One woman, Japanese by descent but living and working in NYC, says that she never had to “waste time” searching for that someone special. Rather, she could simply get married, get a job, and have a family. These people learn to “deliberately love over time.” Did I miss something here? As if living in close proximity to someone automatically means that you could “learn to love them.” What happened to shared interests, mutual respect, “it” that is vital to healthy relationships? Apparently, all that can be replaced by the brute effort to love someone, and oh, by the birth of children. Which we all know necessarily brings couples together and never places a strain on any relationship.

So, I guess I’ll be at my desk, profiling traits of potential partners for my (very much in the future) future children.