Couldn't agree more!

I stand corrected.

Well, I think the difference is I (and many people I know) want to go to graduate school to solidify careers before they get married. Another 4 years of school and $150,000 of debt will take a while to get under control.

I can't believe the number of people around my age from my hometown who are getting married. Where I'm from, you reach a certain age--for girls, it's in their final couple years of college or just after graduation, for guys it's a little after that but only by a few years--the fashionable thing to do is get married. Well, I won't say fashionable...it's just what everyone does. And the kicker is, even if they went to school out of state, a large proportion end up marrying people from our hometown! Egads! I can't imagine that with all the people who are out there that they may have met at college, they have to come back and marry people they went to high school with. This only happens with the "upper classes," though, I guess you'd say...ones who don't belong to this group usually get married in high school or just after or not at all. I never really thought about it much, but the other day it hit me as I was looking through the local paper at my parents' house and saw how many of my classmates were listed in the bridal registries...it was insane. Thank God my parents don't ascribe to the idea that if I hit 25 and am still single, I'm an old maid--my mom has always told me to wait as long as I can, but if I do end up being crazy enough to get hitched I should wait until at least 27 or 28, preferably over 30. I'm loving that...no pressure for quite a few more years at least! :p

I went away to college and moved back home afterward. I live in one of the hugest cities in the world and I am currently interested in two guys from my hometown of a couple of thousand. I laugh at myself because I'm making all these changes in my life - moving out on my own, really settling into my career - and I'm into guys that remember me from kindergarden.

I think people here in Cali get married later than a lot of other places. I think as I've gotten "older" I've figured out life isn't a race. Everyone does things at their own pace and people really shouldn't feel badly if they haven't gotten married by ___ whatever age they think they should get married because "everyone else" is married, has kids, etc. At least that's what I keep telling myself, because if I didn't believe that I'd be getting worried about being an "old" cat lady in 5 years.

Not necessarily. I have friends back home who are easily making more than I do in similar-type jobs. I would be able to afford a decent house back home and I would be financially stable. Just because I work in Manhattan, doesn't mean I make a lot of money. I'll be moving into the city when my lease is up and my rent will probably be quadruple what my parents and friends pay on their monthly mortgage payments.

My boyfriend and I don't plan on marrying until we have some money in the bank. Who knows how long that will take with paying off school loans and the like. Children will come after. Where I'm from, most people are married and have children already. I'm in no hurry for either. It will happen. :)

My dating experiences in Los Angeles and Florida were fun-- I was always going out and meetng people-- it was like shooting fish in a barrel--- Sadly, DC is a bit harder to meet people.

Here in Memphis, a lot of my college friends are getting engaged, and planning to marry the summer they graduate.

In fact, my friends (the guy is three weeks older than my boyfriend - 22 - and the girl is three weeks older than I am - 19) just got married this weekend. The girl is a sophomore.

However, this just seems to be those in serious relationships. Those who aren't really are nowhere close to marriage.

I noticed when I was in New York it was a lot easier to meet people than it is here in Cali.

Gawd...I wish I lived in more "old fashioned" areas. Maybe I can get married and move out of the current misery I'm in.

If you walk around saying that you are miserable being single, you aren't going to attract the type of men you want. You should try to meet "old fashioned" men at church or political groups or through friends who share your values. Good luck! :)

I lived In South Carolina and then Louisiana and I feel that the track a 'proper young lady' was to be on went Daddys house -> sorority house -> husband's house....
I might be wrong! That's just how I remember it

In Canada, over the last couple of years the average age for marriage has risen from 28 to 30 for females, and 30-32 for men. So even though I am getting married at 27, that is below the national average. I don't if people from BC get married younger or older than people from the Maritimes, but there is a difference between the cities and towns. People who live in smaller cities/towns or more rural areas of Canada tend to get married younger, while Canadians who live in metropolitan areas tend to get married later. The other trend is that Canadians are having children later and having fewer children. If you take away immigration into Canada, Canada is at ZPG (zero population growth).