Why should getting a driver's license be easier than getting a marriage license???!!!

[FlamingoBlue]

As I was responding to another thread about marriage, I began to think about how it is easier to get a marriage license than it is to get a driver's license. The "State" certainly has an interest in protecting the safety and the welfare of its citizens in both cases!

To get a driver's license in Michigan, you have take driver's training, gain time behind the wheel of a car and learn the basic laws about traffic. Then you have to pass a written and practical test. To get married, you fill out a form and pay a fee. No classes about relationships or conflict resolution. No personalty testing to detect underlying problems. NOTHING!!! Oh, I forgot. You have to say "I do".

So, what do you think? Personally, I would like to see this stuff taught in the schools. To me it is more important than the 3 R's.

blue

 

[Stormystarr]

Just my opinion

I think ppl need to take some kind of class to learn more about one another before leaping into what could turn into pure hell. I hear ppl say all the time "But I thought I knew him/her so well"
I think the classes would make the divorce rate go down. Because less people would be getting married so quickly.

 

[Juliangel]

My honey and I were required to take a 6 week class with the minister of my church before he would agree to set a date that we could use the church.

We had to take compatibility tests on things like how many children we wanted, what type of job we expected our spouse to have and yes this 70 year old man offered us sex advice.

It was very hard to keep a straight face that day but I think everyone should have to go through a course like that.

I understand that catholics have a class too bt I do not know anything about it so I cannot say how involved it is.

 

[Shelby]

I got married while on a Vegas Vacation. To boot, it was at "The little Church of the West", of Cindy Crawford/Richard Gere fame. I filled out the marriage license in pencil, yup, pencil. I was previously divorced; did they want proof of the divorce...nope! 5 years later I am plotting how to sneak into that office & erase that license, then I would be free right?!

It never ceases to amaze me that one little sheet of paper allows anyone to get married, at anytime.

***But I thought I knew him so well****

 

[Earthmuffin]

I'm in a wierd mood today, so I'll put this forth:

It may be easy to get a driver's license, but ppl still drive irrationally whether licensed or not. Some even drive whilst intoxicated and kill others.

As many of us age, we get better at driving. Same for marriage. Others...well, gee, "I knew him so well". Yeah, he's also been in a few car accidents come to think of it...
I too took the compatibility test, pre-marital counseling etc.

What about a parenting license? I think the State could make a bit 'o cash on that one!

 

[Closet Desire]

Obviously haven't been to Texas

When my English lover, the adorable Closet Desire-able, and I decided to get married she flew over to the US. The ink was barely dry on our divorces. We had set up a lovely wedding in Houston at the home of a friend beneath towering pines. A harp player was hired, the judge reserved, and everything was in place. We even checked to make sure there wouldn't be any trouble getting the license.

The day after she arrived we went for the license the bureau informed us that my bride-to-be couldn't get married to me in Texase unless she had the WRITTEN permission of her ex-husband (fat chance). They call it "family values". We were gobsmacked. Called my lawyer in another state and he advised we go to Vegas.

Hopped a plane to Vegas, filled out the form in pencil, and at 10 pm the JOP pronounced us husband and wife. Went back to our hotel, exhausted, ordered pizza and slept until our flight out the next morning. It was lovely and we are still as happy today as we were then.

It epitomized what America is supposed to be about...freedom for honest people to go about their business without encumbrances from the government.

 

[teresafannin]

I think it is the same logic that makes it so easy to get a divorce & so hard to adopt. My ex-husband wanted to adopt my son. My son's birth father is not listed on the birth certificate. We assumed it would be a simple uncontested adoption-not in Texas. We were told that we still had to have the birth father's permission, all kinds of testing & it was going to cost over 2000. A divorce is less than 200 if it is uncontested. What is wrong with this picture? We finally just registered our son with his stepdad's last name through the school district. That at least insured that we all had the same last name & his step dad could take him out of school in case of an emergency & things like that.

 

[Miss_E]

The timing is unreal

When I wanted to get married, we had to buy the license in Washington State and then wait at least three days before doing the deed.

When the divorce came through, I had to wait three months after filing just to be eligible for divorece. And then it took six months.

I think the timing should be reversed, get your marriage license then wait three months... you may save yourself a divorce down the road. Then, once it over, it's over, get the thing done in three days (providing no major impedements) and get on with your lives.

Since I want to get married again someday, I may get the license then wait the three months myself, just to see if I really am thinking straight.

But that is just my opinion, I could be wrong.

E

 

[Closet Desire]

Something about Texas...

You're right...it's a weird picture. Go figure.

 

[Melody_lane]

What about a parenting license?

You read my mind!!!

 

[forgetunome]

Parenting License...

Yep I agree with that one more than the marriage license thing...marriage you are two adults and you can get over but, children are a huge responsibility but, there is absolutely nothing requiring you to make sure you are up to and can handle the task. Maybe, make people use those lifelike babies to see how they handle the 2:00 A.M. feedings, the crying and fussing as well as the happy times. Anyway, I could go on and on but, I won't!

I dismount my soapbox!! JMHO

 

[Shelby]

Shelby is jumping up & down......Happy dance...

Closet Desire got married in pencil too.

Oh, damn, Closet desire's still happy. Anyway Closet, do you remember how to get to the town hall so I can erase my application? All I know is that it's 1/2 mile past Elvis, turn at the strip (so I thought that meant something else), left at the Pyramid, right at the Hilton...then where?????

 

[jcgirl]

Why do I need a dog license to have a dog............yet anyone can have children?

 

[R Nitelight]

Why don't you have to renew your marriage license every four years?

 

[jcgirl]

Hell, why cant you renew the spouse every 4 yrs?

 

[forgetunome]

Because...

Hell, why cant you renew the spouse every 4 yrs?

What if it's you that's gets renewed and not him/her because they beat you to it??????

 

[jcgirl]

Re: Because...

Hell, why cant you renew the spouse every 4 yrs?

What if it's you that's gets renewed and not him/her because they beat you to it??????

Hmmmmmm......good point.

 

[Closet Desire]

Elvis has left the building...

Yep Shelby, still head over heels I'm afraid.

Still, I don't exactly remember how I got to the court house...I must have been drugged!

Not really...the rental car counter had photocopied maps of how to get there!!!

Take a gamble!

 

[FlamingoBlue]

You can't be serious about Texas....

requiring a former husband having to consent to his gormer wife's remarrige???!!! I can't believe that. More info, please. This needs to get to Al Gore. This is great stuff. Imagine the effect that it could have on the election. BUSH=MCP!!!!

blue

 

[teresafannin]

I have never heard that you have to have permission from your first husband to remarry in Texas. I know that neither of my sister's had to have that permission,because neither one would be married today. It might have just been that Closet had a nutcase working in the marriage license bureau, it seems like the craziest people work in places like the marriage license bureau & the DMV. My fiancee & I have a tentative date set & I haven't heard that I have to have my ex's permission, although he would give it. I think the rules must vary from city to city.

 

[Closet Desire]

Surprising interest!

We spoke directly with the judge who informed us that in order to marry before the mandated waiting period of either 6 or 12 months (don't remember which) my darling would have to have a written release from her ex-husband. This probably has something to do with annuling divorces or something like that. I'm not from Texas so couldn't say.

Point is, my wife's divorce was granted in England which required a waiting period of over a year and another year for processing before she got a decree fini. It was one of those unfortunate clashes between one system that requires a waiting period before the divorce and one that requires a waiting period after the divorce.

And...no...I'm not kidding, but you could be right about incompetence because the first office we went to had a hand-written sign saying they no longer issued marriage licenses due to budget cuts!

Go figure...

 

[teresafannin]

It was probably because she was from England. Still a weird law, though. But, I have to admit, we have a lot of weird laws here in Texas. One part of our state constitution even includes a way for us to secede from the Union. Like that was such a great success the first time we did it. Only in Texas!

 

[Closet Desire]

Texas isn't alone...

The law, as it was explained to us, applied to everyone because they asked about my divorce from another state. Actually, quite a few states have waiting periods following the declaration. Oklahoma has a similar law on the books that I think requires six months.

Thank goodness Nevada still has a live and let live policy about life.

Say...read recently that the Red River was given to Oklahoma by the Supreme Court! Guess Wild Bill Murray is laughing in his grave finally!

Have a good one...

 

[insideShiraz]

It's easier to Drive you Mad?...

Iz it cheaper to buy a wife in Oregon?

 

[FlamingoBlue]

The thing about parenting is ....

that you don't need a license to have them until you get into a custody dispute in Court. Then you are raised to a standard that you never realized existed and then and only then are you told of your deficits and/or strengths. In fact, your whole life i held under a microscope that folows you until the children reach the age of majority. Is there a double standard for retaining the "right" to raise children?