What? Did you really think I was announcing my engagement? I’ve been here less than 2 months! I know I’m behind my Mormon standards, but give me a break! I’m a born-n-raised Californian.

Two months ago I would have been joking about being “behind my Mormon standards”, but now I’m not so sure. It seems like everyone in Provo is on the cusp of an engagement or wondering why they’re not there yet.

While waiting for my canceled health class to start I overheard the conversation of the two girls behind me. One of them was lamenting the fact that her significant other insisted on waiting so long to get married. He wanted to do it in the fall while she was hoping for the summer. Her friend was trying to be supportive by listing all the reasons why marriage in the summer is so much better than marriage in the fall.

The conversation then turned to the struggles of engagement. She wanted to get engaged in Texas, somewhere near the place they would be living after the union, so they would be able to revisit that place easily as time goes by. He was content to get engaged there in Provo. It took me a while to get over the realization that they weren’t even engaged and they already had plans to move to Texas together and get married sometime in the fall – or summer.

Someone needs to give the people here in Provo a serious wake-up call on the subject of marriage.

When the bride and groom-to-be are both involved with the precise planning of the time and place of proposal, it no longer holds the same importance as it once did. The intent to be married is already established. The surprise and mystery is gone. It becomes an empty ritual which has no romantic value except that which is placed on it because, “well, it’s supposed to be romantic, isn’t it? This is a proposal. It’s romantic.”

Sure, it’d be nice to revisit the place where the one you love made the commitment to spend their life with you, but wouldn’t you much rather revisit the place where the commitment was first made and first expressed than the place meticulously chosen by a simple majority to represent an agreement between two parties which had been in effect months prior?

Then, the girl’s friend asked how her parents felt about the whole thing? Apparently they didn’t like it so much at first, but they feel much better about it now, even though she’ll still be 18 – unless they get married in the fall.

If you’re thinking, “well, that’s just one couple. There’s bound to be some of those everywhere,” I thank you for giving us Latter-Day Saints the benefit of the doubt. After my non-class I thought back on the 6 hours that had passed in my day so far and counted the number of engagements/weddings I had heard discussed in the form of an announcement. There were four. Then I ran into Pablo, which made five – and that’s only the ones I remember when not paying attention.

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