Despite our valiant effort to explain to the staff at the hotel in Hanmer Spring that we were _not_ a couple, they insistingly and continually misunderstood us to be married. So before leaving Christchurch we went to the Warehouse (the Kiwi equivalent of KMart) and bought ourselves a matching set of $5 “wedding” rings.
After two days as Mr. and Mrs. Aboul-Hosn (or Damhøj Andersen, we still haven’t agreed on that) we feel uniquely qualified to publicly muse on the blessings of marriage.
It’s nice to look down and see the matching ring on the other’s finger – a visible connection. Someone’s with me, I am not alone.
It’s for free, due to the time limit. All the desirable things about commitment, just without… commitment. Perfection in the 48-hour marriage.
The way people look at you. It almost feels like they take you more seriously. Older without being so. … Adult? Settled – no. Chosen? Having chosen? Less geeky.
The perks: When married, you are culturally expected to pick on the other. In public 😉 And you get the right to mother them, their only available reply being “Yes, Dear.”
More perks: When walking down the street and someone looks at your spouse, you can get a nice, smug look on your face and think, “yeah, she’s mine and you can’t have her.”
Remembering that for many topics of conversation the pronoun “I” needs to be replaced with “we”.
Your name gets an unsaid yet heard add-on when spoken by the other. When saying “Kamal” people hear “Kamal, my husband”.
The ability to use your spouse as an excuse. When canceling dinner reservations post last-minute, you just go “My wife really had her heart set on the other place…” and look apologetically like it’s not at all your fault.
You feel more justified in being too lazy to get up before 9 in the morning. Especially when staying at a place where people obviously come for honeymoons. After all they might think the young marriage is not all bliss if you get up too early 😉
Oh gods, I needed that fix! 🙂
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