1 - But you work more at home. You get home earlier to now take care of married stuff. And you'll step in it for not taking care of the stuff. Single people don't have anyone waiting for them at home to complain about the stuff. Also, who gets to make the lasagna? Whose lasagna is better? Why didn't you like the lasagna I made - did you have cereal before coming home? Are we having lasagna again - can we have a bit of cereal too?

-----------

I see what you’re saying, that the married people may have more ‘at-home’ work to do (and hassle) than the single person. In some ways, especially if they have kids, that does seem to be the case. In other ways, man, when I was married, it was nice that I only had to cook half the meals because we took turns, and I didn't have to run all the errands myself. Regardless, our employer pays us to do our at-work work, so maybe the actual perk isn’t “Married people do less work overall”, but rather, “Married people may get paid by our employer to do less at-work work”. That’s a good distinction that you’ve pointed out.

2 - I tell my kids when we go to Disneyland or some large public place, if you get lost and you need to borrow a phone (before they had phones) to call me, find a mom with kids and ask to borrow her phone. In my mind, they're the "safest" stranger to approach. Obviously(?), the mom would come across as more caring and nurturing with her brood of kids, but maybe a hint of maturity too? I used to fiddle with my ring. It was good for my fidgety hands. Now I fiddle with my puka necklace (you can judge, it's ok). Does a puka necklace make me seem less mature?

-------------

I, too, tend to perceive women with kids as being more mature than the rest of us because many seem used to being responsible and in charge. Then again, that same maturity can come with the bad rap of being bossy, treating their men like ‘another child’, and not being ‘as fun’. I wonder if married men get perceived with a positive aura of ‘maturity’ but married women with kids get a mixed aura.

I had to look up what a puka necklace was, and, sure enough, I now have more material to mock you with, so thank you for providing the material:):):)

5 - Maybe a little bit different from a male perspective? When I meet a group of people (with women in the collective), and they found I was married, they were a tiny bit more open to me. Because I was attached and off-limits? Or because I was attached and off-limits, then now am forbidden fruit? Or I was attached and safe to assume that I wasn't interested in them?

----------

Oh—I can see that. Good point. It can go both ways. I do the same thing—when I meet a married man, I almost feel more relaxed because I know we don’t have to deal with the man-woman stuff.

Maybe some married women may regard some single men differently from single women because they’re not concerned about you stealing their husbands.

I wonder: When you’re a single man, and you enter a group of men consisting of many married men, what is that like?

8 - By the callouses around the ankle? :-P

-----

Hahahahah! Hahaha!

9 - As a spouse, you also gain supreme control over your partner's life in terminal situations (without DNRs or ADs in place)

— — -

So you’re saying married people need to be nice to their spouses to have a better chance of their spouses not pulling the plug prematurely?:)That is a huge responsibility. Makes me wonder who makes that decision for single people who aren’t married and don’t have kids.

Lee, as much as I like to kid, throw in sarcasm, and be devil's advocate in your pieces, this was a great read :-)

----

Thank you, Jesse. Half the time I write what I write just so that I can enjoy reading your reactions to what I write.