When we moved to Canada in 2000, picking up all 6 pickneys and starting a new life on Lawrence Avenue, I became quite fond of garage sales. One morning I returned home elated with my newest acquisition. A 12 inch black and white TV that I stole (or so I thought from a poor fellow for $10). On my new TV was a masking tape with two words written on in a strong, confident style: Works Great. To this day, this episode is used as a reference point whenever I attempt to buy anything in the company of Rebecca or any of my children. Even if it’s brand new.
So when I saw a blog about about The Dating Surplus for Chinese Women for some reason it got me thinking about my not so brand new marriage, 30 years, and how much longer it has lasted than my 12 inch black and white TV that I never got to watch.
Back to the Blog by Economy Lab contributor Marina Adshade who in a post, describes a letter from a friend in China: “First, wealth matters. Many Chinese women place high value on a husband with money and stability. In a now famous moment from a Chinese dating show, a female contestant rejected a suitor with the iconic line, ‘I would rather cry in the back of a BMW than laugh on the back of a bicycle.’ Second, men have to marry downwards. It is humiliating for a Chinese man to be married to a woman with a higher or even equal income. Instead, men prefer to marry women slightly below them on the social ladder.”
Rebecca and I were lucky. We married across. From across the street that is. And we’ve had a wonderful run. We have six phenomenal children. We have one magical grand-son. His name is Rocco. And even my mother-in-law is not that bad. Folks it can work and work well. Just find yourself a partner that works great.
