Married Party

We went to a birthday party on Saturday for a friend who had turned 30. He had just gotten married in October, so this event also served as a housewarming of sorts for him and his wife. Predictably, many of the guests were married couples as well.

I wasn't sure if I would know very many people (since we've not known this fellow for very long), so I put in a call to a friend of mine who I knew would be going, just to be sure we'd have someone to talk to. I've been to a lot of gatherings where I knew the host, but no one else. Those can be awkward, because you spend the evening building relationships from scratch (I rely heavily on lame jokes). R performs well in those circumstances (she's good at "bubbly"), but an evening of it tires her out. Fortunately, we knew most of the guests, so I was able to relax and enjoy the tour around their recently-acquired home and the large selection of finger foods.

Like I said, the company largely consisted of married couples, but there were a few singles in the group -- seven to be exact. Four of them were engaged, so that doesn't really count. One young pair have been engaged for a few months, and will be married during the Christmas break. They seemed quite comfortable in their surroundings. You would not guess this was their first venture into the world of "married parties."

I spoke to DM (the groom-to-be) the next day, and asked him how he had enjoyed himself in this new milieu. I mainly expected comments about the quality of the food -- because it was pretty good. DM said, "When I walked through the door, I immediately felt five years older." He said the experience felt completely different from single life. He pointed out the following differences about a married party:

1. Nobody sits on the floor.
I take this mean that single people like to sprawl about, wherever there is room for them. I had not noticed this before, but it makes sense. You rarely see your grandparents lounging on the living room floor. There must be a transition point somewhere. Apparently, that transition is matrimony.

2. People don't talk or shout across the room.
They speak only to people who are closer to them, making the whole atmosphere much quieter. I was surprised at this comment as well, but it is absolutely accurate. Why is this the case? No idea.

3. They all go home early.
It makes sense that the couple that brought their baby would need to leave early, but they weren't the only ones. By 11:30pm, the place was desolate. The hosts themselves were completely surprised. They must have expected us to linger in various corners of the house until we had to be forcibly removed. I have a hypothesis here:
The event started at 7:30pm. All the married people arrived within 20 minutes of the appointed time, but the singles trickled in until 10:30 or so (DM had to work until later, so he was justified showing up later). By 11:30, we'd been there four hours. There's only so much artichoke dip you can eat in one evening. Eventually, you have to give up and go home.

Well, welcome to married life. Sometimes it may not appear that wild or crazy, but the food is excellent.