Gulp

Yesterday I was talking to my students about two women in American history who argued that marriage was nothing more than an economic arrangement. I wanted to get the kids talking about their opinions on it, and what I discovered floored me. Marriage is completely about money, they said. Love has very little to do with it. Love is a factor maybe when you first get married, a few argued, but love fades and after twenty years or so, you need something more to fall back on. What's more, a few of them pointed out, everyone has a prenup these days. While I stood there, gaping at these eighteen-year-olds who seemed even more cynical than my most cynical friends, they went on to tell me countless stories of friends and family members of theirs who had recently married (many still in college) solely for money. And one told me that she dumped her last boyfriend because he was too poor. Finally, when I didn't think anything else could shock me more, it happened. Of course marriage is all about money, one of my students said, isn't that why the gays want to get married? And with that, my crumbled soul started to weep.