And Now for Something Completely Different

A guy I went to High School with recently got a divorce after being married for barely a year. I don't know him that well, so I don't know the details. And they don't really matter, I guess. But the situation did get me thinking. Maybe too much.

First: one year? Wow. I cannot imagine things spiraling into disrepair so quickly. Maybe, of course, it was a bad situation from the start, a silly decision that good friends and sound reasoning could have prevented. Can you imagine the conversation that must have taken place?

Well, it's been a year. We gave it the old 'College Try'. But I think we should cash out before the warranty on the microwave expires.

Personally, I would like to think people don't commit to bad relationships. I know they do. But I close my eyes and pretend the world works the way I think it does (too many mainstream economics courses?).

Second: why are 22 year olds getting married, anyway? Ok. Maybe I am just being a cynic. But marriage is the last thing on my mind right now. I am (happily) single (with no prospects). Other people are having relationships; I am reading books and discussing how macroeconomic phenomena might emerge.

To be honest, I don't even know where I would meet a potential spouse right now. You can almost always find me at my house (studying) or in class. Or, I am having a drink with people from the class (talking about the class!). And I am guessing that "What do you think about spontaneous orders?" is not a successful pick-up line (though, I would be willing to give it a shot).

So who is right, here? Should I be thinking more about my future wife and less about the 'big questions that puzzle me'? Or are my married and marrying friends making a huge mistake? Do they know something I don't? Or are their calculations in error. Comments open.

(And don't give me the standard econ answer. I know different people have different preferences. My question is completely normative: What should I be doing?)