No Marriage For Me!

No Marriage For Me!

The Best Of

The Single Life

December 27, 2018

by M.K. Allison

I just shook my head as I watched my friend Samantha checking her watch every ten minutes.  Everyone was having a ball, but her.  She couldn’t enjoy herself on our wild shopping spree and lunch, because she had to be home before her husband got there.  She was so intimidated she behaved like a prisoner out on pass, but she wasn’t alone.  Out of my six married friends, only one is truly a free spirit. And her marriage appears to be the happiest.  The others live regimented lives that center on the likes and dislikes of their husbands.

One hides all evidence of shopping in the garage, while another cannot talk on the phone when her husband is home, regardless of the importance of the call.  Yet, most of my single friends are dying to get married to obtain the “crown” of Mrs, which translates to “I got a man who belongs to me,” and most of those who have married are scrambling madly to get back to single living.  Unfortunately, most married people I know are miserable.

I’ve been single and I’ve been married.  There is something to recommend for both states. But personally, I think there is far more benefit on the single side of the ledger.  That’s why, after some serious trial and error, I have finally decided that I really do LIKE being single and doubt that I will ever trade that status to be part of a duo again.  For one ? as a single, you only have to live for ONE.  And if you have a one or two bedroom apartment, just think of all the space you have with nobody bumping around in it but you.   You can leave your clothes all over without having to listen to any complaints.  You can be a pig or a neurotic neat freak and nobody will care.

Only a single person can get out of the grocery store with a bill under $100 and take away enough food for more than a week.  In the shoe department, you can buy those grossly expensive Charles Jourdan’s and only your corns will know.

Living for one in general means you have more disposable income, which translates into extra money for shopping, and income to splurge as well as to save.  Singles can shop sales because they have ready cash.  And, if they don’t, nobody is going to complain when you’re reduced to eating chicken soup every day for a month because you just couldn’t leave that Chanel bag in the store.

More disposable income can also mean vacations at posh resorts in exotic places around the globe.  Beyond the financial, the best thing about single life is the peace of mind it affords You don’t have to “ask” anybody when you want to just go.  You can jump up and leave your home, your city or even the country on a whim.

There is so much to be said for single life and it is very unfortunate that so many people are so busy worrying about how to become part of a pair, that they don’t see it.  There is nothing like freedom and THAT is what single life really offers.  The opportunity to experience the selfish, unadulterated and liberating ability to live the way you want to.  I once asked an eighty-year-old woman, if she had any regrets in her life, and I’ll never forget her words. “Honey, the only thing I regret is that I was foolish enough to marry a second time.  Marriage was like being in the penitentiary, and I couldn’t wait to be paroled.”

My sentiments exactly!…at least for now.