Why I Don’t Feel Sorry For The Lonely Men

It’s hard to feel sorry for people who don’t put in the effort

The age I am means I am currently witnessing the women in my cohort get married and have children. On two occasions, I have seen female friends strong-arm their long-term boyfriends into marrying them in almost identical circumstances.

The first occurred when I was living in Washington, D.C., when a couple I was friendly with dramatically broke up after living together for three years only to reconcile and get married. The woman had made an ultimatum: we get married or we split up. He said he wasn’t ready to get married; “why can’t things just stay the same?”, so she moved out of the home they shared.

The man in this relationship slept with several other women before realising that starting a whole new relationship from scratch was too much of a hassle, and he was engaged to his previous longterm girlfriend after only a few months of them being split up.

The second occurred in Dubai, where the woman, in a couple who had been dating for three-four years, made a similar ultimatum. We get married, or we split up. The man chose to move out of their shared apartment, but after a few months and a dispute with his bank over whether rent payments to his Iranian landlord violated sanctions rules, he decided that being single was just too much hassle, and he reconciled with his previous girlfriend. They are now married.