Crappy Reasons to Get Married #1

Because it's 7th July 2007 (07-07-07) next Saturday and the fact that there are three sevens in the date will obviously affect the overall happiness and success on your marriage! It seems strange that people can be so superstitious and yet, according to The Economist, Las Vegas (the self-proclaimed marriage capital of the known universe (why anyone would want to get married there in the first place is beyond me but that's another matter)) is expecting "a bumper crop of matrimonials" next week. In fact, the city is expecting so many weddings next week that they have been offering "slots" in chapels from 12.30 a.m. to pack as many in as possible (because those are the circumstances in which I would love to get married!).

This is after there were far fewer weddings than normal on 6th June 2006 because of the dreaded 6-6-6 (never mind that it is not entirely clear whether 666 really is the number of the beast given in Revelations or whether it is actually 616 or 665). Superstition is a funny thing that really shouldn't exist anymore given that most people have so much more control over their lives than in the past and yet still does (hence horoscopes, hence avoiding black cats (or considering them lucky depending on where you live)). Perhaps I am being hypocritical given that I always set my alarm clock to a time that ends in an odd final digit, but I think this is more a relic of my childhood OCD than anything else. If numbers really were instilled with this magical power, why would 13 be considered unlucky by many westerners while for many Chinese people, 4 is unlucky (due to its homophony with the word for "death" in some dialects of Chinese)? Ah, the discrepancies of culture!

Still, if you are getting married in the first place, do you really need to rely on a "lucky" date to ensure the success of your marriage? Surely, you would be so happy and confident in the long-term prosperity of your joyous union that you don't need a helping hand from numerology? People have got married for worse reasons, I suppose...