Diamond Rings

A friend sent me an email the other day about a twenty-five year old girl who posted an ad on Craig's List seeking a man that makes at least $500,000 for marriage. This is my favorite part of the excerpt:

"I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?"

So, as a single twenty-five year old girl, I am asking why are people so desperate to get married? Now, just so I don't offend anyone, I make the disclaimer that everyone that is married by my age is not desperate. For some people, the time is just right, I understand that. But for a twenty-five year old living in New York City, really, you want to be married? That, I just do not understand.

Inevitably, as a girl, I am obligated to write about boys and marriage and all that at some point. So here it is.

Since I've lived in only two places for longer than a year, here's my conclusion of the boys that I am familiar with: Texas boys are eager to spend their money on engagement rings; New York boys are eager to spend their money guying girls drinks. Texas boys want to buy a two-car-garage house in the suburbs; New York boys just want to bring the girl to their bachelor pad for the night. Texas boys want to settle; New York boys want to do anything but settle. So does that mean that I have to go to Kansas to find a boy that doesn't want to put a ring on my finger tomorrow but also wants me around for more than one night? I mean, is there an inbetween?

The thing is that there are very few couples that I meet whose life I want mine to be like. I would rather be single, traveling the world, than buy a cookie-cutter house outside of the city. So will this perception ever change? I hope not. The thing that I like so much about my life right now is my idealism. The desire to change the world; the challenge of significance; the need to be apart of a bigger world; the hope that tomorrow will be better; the want to risk. I don't see this in too many married couples. Maybe that's why marriage seems so boring to me. Maybe one day I'll wake up to realize that all my dreams may not come true; my idealism will fade into a realism of weekend yard-work, having babies and driving carpool. Or maybe, I'll find someone that is just as idealistic.

Even though I think its kind of cheesy, I agree with the concept from the book Wild at Heart; boys want adventure; girls want to be a part of that adventure (I think it goes something like that but its been awhile since I've read it). So my question: does married life give you the kind of rush that freefalling from an airplane at 13,500 feet does? Maybe it does and, at twenty-five, I'm missing out. But I think right now, I would rather feel like I have the world at my fingertips than have a diamond ring on that finger. And I'll just keeping hoping that someone is out there that likes jumping out of planes as much as I do.