Courthouse weddings (unexpectant mothers find love!)

Things were different a hundred years ago. Blacks couldn’t vote (or run for president). Women couldn’t vote (or run for vice president). I don’t know what the price of gas was, but I’m sure it was cheaper than today. Even marriage was different. Back then, a wedding consisted of a guy, gal, her dad, and a shotgun. It was so much simpler. A modern wedding includes all of those things–plus numerous forms, fees, and other unnecessary bureaucracies.

The Girlfriend and I had to apply for a marriage license. Who needs a license to get married? Can that license get revoked? Why do we need the government’s permission to get married? It’s not like the state has any right to deny anyone marriage. Not anymore. Assuming were dealing with two human beings, everyone has the right to get married in California.

Applying for a marriage license isn’t that hard–the hardest part is come up with the 60 bucks required to get a license. Unfortunately, marriage licenses aren’t granted online or over the phone so we had to trek down to the courthouse to get our license. What a sight that was. You see it in television and movies all the time, but I didn’t think people actually got married at a courthouse…and when I saw it only cost $28 to have a courthouse wedding ceremony, I wished I was one of them. I’m getting off fairly light for this shindig because The Girlfriend is as cheap as I am. But oh man, if I knew I had the option of getting this done for only 28 bucks (plus 60 for the license), I would have been more assertive about my wedding desires.

Anywhos, the courthouse was filled with people who were getting hitched that day. The folks getting married at the courthouse were exactly the kinda people you’d expect to get married in a courthouse. Of the dozen or so people there, at least half of them were obviously pregnant–and those were just the ones showing. I also saw a pair of wet-behind-the-ears teenagers–kids who took puppy love too far (probably read “Romeo & Juliet” one time too many). Either that or they were pregnant. I saw a happy gay couple (probably not pregnant…but you never know). There were a few, low-income ghetto-trash couples who clearly couldn’t afford a ceremony that would cost more than $28. I saw a bride with a child…who wore a maternity bag filled with diapers and bottles during the ceremony.

All in all, I’m fairly certain I saw a group of people who never set foot on a college campus and probably weren’t even high graduates (except the happy gay couple). I’m not one for big, fancy ceremonies–but I certainly wouldn’t ever want to associate myself with that kinda trash. Twenty eight bucks or not, I’d much rather have the private ceremony we have planned. The last thing I want is a wedding photo with a group of pregnant women in the background.