


To celebrate the week of Valentine's Day, CBS News ran a comprehensive report on the state of marriage and divorce in America. I was expecting to be depressed, or maybe hopeful. I ended up being both.
First, there were stats. The seven-year itch has turned into the eight-year itch, which is progress, I guess. The average age for a first marriage has increased dramatically, which is a hopeful sign — when you're older, there's supposed to be a better chance you know what you're getting yourself into. People of both genders are more educated more now than they have ever been through the entire of human history, which helps. These are good things.
Then the not-so-good. Hidden in the second page of the article are some legal tales from the trenches. Divorce attorneys are saying that people have come to anticipate the high cost of divorce and are often going out of their way to make things more unpleasant for their soon-to-be ex. "It's one thing to get a really good gun, it's another to get lots of ammo with it," said one lawyer. "And when you're really, really mad, and you have the money to do something about it, that's what wars are made of."
His favorite horror story? Valentine's Day. "Having the process server specifically told, 'I want to make sure you get to her on Valentine's Day.' And then if you really want to rub salt in it, they have them film it. Believe it or not, they've done that! To where 'I want to be able to watch it, I want to see it. I want sound'." Sound, people. They want to hear what happens when their spouse's life falls apart on Valentine's Day.
And before anybody gets it in their head that it's men doing this, think again. Two thirds of divorces are filed by women. It's not just the guys being mean, so we can all drop the "men are evil" act right now.
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