Register your loved ones today!

Flipping through the Gazette today something odd came to mind. I realized two entire pages were dedicated to articles dealing with marriage in Canada and its status over the years. It seems that married people are now part of the minority. Coincidentally, a thought crept its way into my mind earlier, before I got to these articles. I asked myself, why was it that when I was a child I thought it to be an odd thing for my parents to get divorced.

As I grew older, I must have encountered several children who went through his or hers parents' divorce. I think I can count two, one being only a separation. What of the rest? Several people have divorced parents. I take a look at people I currently speak to regularly, and I notice they don't have divorced parents (this being limited to people my age). Is there something that differs in character from people with divorced parents and none divorced parents? Even more interesting, as a coincidence of course, I happened to read through someones research this morning and her subject was how divorced affected the behavior of children. It wasn't advanced enough to elaborate any information, so here I am still thinking on the subject.

Another question came up; why is it important to register ourselves as a couple? We can have affairs, short relationships, casual friends, fuck friends, and all other nuanced relationship labels without having them registered. I highly doubt a prostitute would write up a bill for her services and declare it to the government as a revenue, and yet if she was to couple up, tradition would lure her towards the legal registration process (not to mention religious one if chosen).

Then answers come to mind: What about children? Ah-ha! Children, how is a mother to pay if she can't work? Now there's a macho question, women, so feminism tells me, aren't helpless. So I there are ways. Economics? Of course! It may be an economical decision! Then I wonder why the government would bother to give advantages to registered couples. This section requires a lot more research then anticipated.

So why did I think, as a child, that my parents separating could mean something odd? I wasn't afraid of it, maybe I thought the union of the two allowed advantages on my end and the break of that political union might mean my downfall. After all, isn't it a children's job to figure out the weakness of their parents to take great advantage? Then, of course, the frightening idea that all of the sudden both of them might feel a certain obligation to be nicer to me and cover the truth. How awkward would it be to see them separately? Or how about having to deal with any sadness or crying? Eek...

The answer must be more animalistic then this. Were we apes who enjoyed being together before being civilized?