# So now I have a completely appropriate girlfriend **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2016, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608 "2016-02-09T09:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/81 "2016-03-05T02:52:13Z")
\*\*…and they lived happily ever after. _THE END_\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/82 "2016-03-05T05:18:44Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > \*\*…and they lived happily ever after. > > _THE END_\*\* Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/83 "2016-03-05T13:35:57Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > \*\*…and they lived happily ever after. > > _THE END_\*\* Stay tuned for Chapter 2. Weird shit she did today. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/84 "2016-03-05T15:00:24Z")
I wasn’t party to the other thread, but uh, did people really give you a hard time for dating a 32/33 year old woman? The half your age + 7 rule puts this on the lower end of acceptable, and I’ve personally known people that got married with a 16 year difference in age (he was in his early 50s) and nobody I know talked down about that. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/85 "2016-03-05T17:03:40Z")
Well, it’s _THE END_ for me. I’m quitting this soap opera… until the sequel shows up! (seriously, Rik – we’re here to listen if you need to talk in the months to come) ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/86 "2016-03-05T21:24:51Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > I wasn’t party to the other thread, but uh, did people really give you a hard time for dating a 32/33 year old woman? The half your age + 7 rule puts this on the lower end of acceptable, and I’ve personally known people that got married with a 16 year difference in age (he was in his early 50s) and nobody I know talked down about that. She was married to a guy in the military and had no idea Rik had been crushing on her for years. The thread was about whether he should tell her or not. IIRC. Anyway, **Rik** , I also think this is a really bad idea, but I hope we’re all wrong and you’re both very happy. The best of luck to you! ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/87 "2016-03-05T22:06:02Z")
I thought the wedding was to be the end of May. How long are wedding licenses good for? Or has the wedding been moved up? ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/88 "2016-03-05T22:41:48Z")
60 days, usually. I imagine there are some states/counties that have different regulations. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/89 "2016-03-05T23:17:51Z")
> [@Epimetheus](#): > > I wasn’t party to the other thread, but uh, did people really give you a hard time for dating a 32/33 year old woman? The half your age + 7 rule puts this on the lower end of acceptable, and I’ve personally known people that got married with a 16 year difference in age (he was in his early 50s) and nobody I know talked down about that. > [@Helena330](#): > > She was married to a guy in the military and had no idea Rik had been crushing on her for years. The thread was about whether he should tell her or not. IIRC. The two of them are _not_ married, just dating/engaged, but otherwise you’ve summarized it, more or less. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608/90 "2016-03-06T08:18:01Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Depends what you mean by “a thing”. I doubt the guidelines of the church have changed (I know they haven’t for Catholics), and sex outside of marriage is still considered sinful. I came from a Catholic family, and while I chose at a young age to not belong to any religion many of my family and most of my friends attend church. 4 out of 5 of my best friends from my college-age years were Catholic and attended mass. I can assure you every one of them had sex and most if not all of them co-habitated. In fact, I rented a room for a year from 1 of them, who bought the house with his wife 2-3 years before they were married. I was in their Catholic wedding, too. I am mid-30s, FWIW. My thing about a “thing” was more about norms as actually practiced in modern times, regardless of whether “the church” has changed. I just can’t imagine unless you go to a church something out of the Jim Bob Duggars or Mel Gibson family (even though he has lots of unmarried sex and children), or some other super conservative deal, that people really expect adults to not have sex or live together without a wedding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-i-have-a-completely-appropriate-girlfriend/745608.md?page=4)