1) All social gatherings must have alcohol, especially with people in their 20s.
2) Grace is awkward when you don't believe in the trinity
3) People date for WAY too long nowadays
Minute I get there for Thanksgiving, wine comes out. Then all the 20 somethings want to go to a bar. Luckily, I was not feeling well and able to use that as an excuse. Wake up the next morning, serving champaigne with orange juice. Three days of constant drinking. Now, no one got drunk but they were constantly drinking and all the 20 something's stories had to do with bars or getting drunk. When did alcohol become such a pivtol part of our social interaction and society? do we no longer know how to have fun without it or are we just so use to it that it comes with the territory?
Grace is really awkward when you don't believe in the trinity. I did not want to make the sign of the cross and tried to avoid doing so without anyone seeing. I also changed "Christ" to "God" when I said Grace in my head.
For those of you who do not know what Grace is, it is the prayer said by Christians before a meal and goes something like this:
Blessed O Lord
For these and all thy gifts
which we are about to recieve
through thy bounty in Christ our Lord Amen.
I now understand why when some of my friends in high school came to dinner that they didn't do the sign of the cross or say grace.
What is going on with people dating FOREVER! Two couples came to Thanksgiving, both have been dating for seven years. Neither are engaged but they live together, own a car together, own a dog together, make future plans together. I do not understand this. I would think after a couple of years you would know you want to get married so just do it! Is it because society makes it so easy for people to be "married without commitment"? There is barely any difference to being married and how these couples live outside of a legal binding piece of paper. It really bothers me that this has become ok in society. Part of that may be my own jealousy since I can't even take My Love to a family dinner because he can't travel alone with me. He and I do not have the luxury they do, to spend time alone together, to go on trips together. Its awfully frustrating. Part of me is glad because it does keep you away from some temptation but it would be nice to take him to a family dinner once in awhile. But thats the way it is, I accept it. Doesn't mean I like it though.
Hope everyone had a joyous holiday.
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I couldn't imagine dating for that long. Although, if you're living together in what is basically a common-law marriage, I don't think you can consider it dating anymore. I wouldn't, at least.
ReplyDeleteYeah, if (hypothetically speaking) I wasn't sure about marrying my honey after 2 or 3 years, I would take that a sign to move on, no matter how difficult it would be emotionally.
Heather: I agree, its almost common law at that point if you were living together the whole 7 years. I personally don't understand it myself. I would want to get married before starting a life with someone.
ReplyDelete*nods* Yep, me, too. Sharing all of that before marriage kinda takes away the special-ness of it, I think.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, most of those I hang out with don't drink alcohol so I rarely have that problem.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about grace. We just say our own prayer, not one that is already set. Sorry for your awkwardness with that.
Totally agree about the living together thing. It used to be something shameful, but now it's so normal. :-/
Hope your Thanksgiving was good despite these three things...and I hope you got lots of yummy turkey. :)
Teehee Yes thanksgiving was still great. The deeper I get into Islam, the more I start noticing things. I think Im trying to assess the difficulty of being muslim in these types of situations. I would say this holiday would have only been moderately difficult, if at all. Im sure I could have gotten by without anyone asking any questions, providing I didn't wear a scarf. But adjustments for family will be another post :).
ReplyDeletei agree, what's with people not getting married anymore?
ReplyDeleteHere it's completely normal to live together. I was the abnormal one, getting married at 23. I literally had people mocking me for it.
ReplyDeleteHere in Quebec, we are the leaders in co-habitation (after Sweden, I think). NO ONE gets married.
ReplyDeleteI think that marriage is a public and committed relationship, so I have nothing against people who fulfil those requirements but just aren't legally married. I think it's much better to make it official though and I also don't understand why people skip this step or put it off for so long. My parents got legally married when I was 15. They were committed the whole time they were together, they just didn't get married - I don't know why, but their relationship, to me, qualifies as marriage (just not a legal one).
What I find worse is people in Muslim countries getting engaged for years and not married. During this time, they "date" (holding hands, going out together, probably leads to more in a bunch of cases) and half the time they do not get married in the end. It was NOT a committed relationship. As Musims who believe in marriage, it's a shame the culture almost forces them to have this engagement and wait so long to get married.
Candice: Oh I've heard of the engagement loophole in Islam. Because you are engaged you can then go out together in public, hold hands etc. You still aren't suppose to be alone together without supervision though. And yes, some go into this without any intention of marriage, much like people go into dating without any intention of marriage. But even committed people sometimes find that they should not marry which is ok. But if you go into it without any intention of marriage that can be a problem. I personally have never begun a dating relationship without intending to find out whether or not I want to marry the person. Result: I haven't had many boyfriends LOL
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