PBA: Thanks, though considering the post with which you started this thread, I’m not sure whether your agreeing with me is faint praise… 😛 (the current age gap theory is a proportional one, so that fewer people involved in it will only mean that there will be fewer people overall, not that a “gap,” should you believe in such things, will shrink)
Joe, DY- I was totally expecting someone to call me out over cynicism for the “locked in” thing. I think I’m slightly in shock now. I think it’s completely wrong to lock someone in to a worldview by marriage and children, particularly if it’s likely that the worldview will change.
And Joe, why not make a mandatory shana bet then? Or do the Israeli style and institute extra grades in high school?
apy: And it works the same way the other way round- girls won’t want guys who have ever stepped out of the beis midrash, but they want their husbands to work soon after they’re married. Had they begun college/training before marriage, they could start even more quickly to become financially self sufficient.
There is very little logic in this system.
Sparkly: Would it shock you if I told you that I know MO people who don’t pick their own spouses from among male friends?