Men often reach a point in their lives when they must make that important decision – “do I get married?

Or do I finish the last beer in the fridge?” And believe me these are not easy decisions to make. Of course the beer almost always wins, because once you are married, there is no such thing as a last beer in the fridge. You will make sure you have a steady and continuous flow of alcohol.

Which brings us to the topic of discussion; Marriage vs. Bachelorhood, which is really better? The bachelors will obviously say their way of life rocks, and married men, well, will agree. This is because men do not get married for the same reason women do. A woman gets married because she wants to settle down, raise a family and build a home. A man gets married because that’s the only way to get a woman to sleep with him without taking her out on an expensive date. BIG difference.

Bachelors, on the other hand, have it pretty good. You wouldn’t really associate the word ‘responsibility’ to a man that isn’t married. But then again, these men have their own cup of woes to deal with. Having to decide where to party on a Saturday night, waking up next to women, sometimes even men they don’t know and then forgetting to call these women and men back. This is not the kind of life for the everyday guy. So if you look at it, so far, both married and bachelor life pretty much suck.

But let’s look at this from a different point of view. How much does marriage really change the lifestyle of a bachelor? Now you have a gorgeous woman who you love living with you. If your luck is good and she’s a great cook, then add fresh, homemade food to the list. And in the long run, the two of you will be able to celebrate the miracle of birth when you have kids. Is this really that bad? Well not until her mother shows up, but we’ll leave that for another day. The real issue that most married men have with being married is not marriage itself; rather it’s all the fun things that they have to give up, just because there is a woman in the house. Let’s face it video games are cool, no matter how old you are. And what is wrong if a man wants to completely ignore the existence of his wife during a football match? The odd fart once in a while in the corner of the living room is just him marking his territory. Let him be.

The real deal here is to know when your time as a bachelor is up and when you should look at finding a bride. In all honesty, it takes a certain amount of panache to pull off the bachelor way of life well into your forties. Besides George Clooney and Johnny Depp, very few men make it look cool. Unless you want to be frowned upon by everyone in your family as well as the neighbour’s cat, pick an age by which you think you’ll be done with all the things that married life does not permit, because that’s the only reason why men prefer to remain single isn’t it?

A smart man is one who strikes a balance between bachelorhood and marriage, but it takes a genius to live like a bachelor even after you tie the knot, but again, more on that in another article. The way I would go about it, is to make a plan of sorts, put together a list of things I want to do by myself, like travel, adventure sports and Sudoku puzzles. Once I have exhausted the list, I’ll find a young girl to make my wife. No matter how much you swear by being single and all the greatness it offers, you gotta accept the fact that farts don’t smell that good when you are 65 and living on your own.

Learn to get the best out of both phases of your adult life. There is no real winner in this argument. Bachelors end up wanting what married men have (their wives), married men want what bachelors have (a fridge full of beer, even trade?). So it’s a vicious cycle eventually. Every man must compulsorily face the challenge and ecstasy of being a bachelor and then by choice rue the decision of getting married. Such is the way of life. Now to gulp down that last beer, cheers!

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