Early commitments show family values

Nebraska is a place where people really care about their family. I am not saying that other people don’t, but in Nebraska and the Midwest in general, you can find 19-21-year-old girls engaged or looking for a guy to settle down with.

To tell the truth, I think this is the only place I have been where that happens. On the West Coast, you sure aren’t going to see that.

Those young ladies are not looking to settle down when they are in their early twenties, NO NO NO!!!!

Maybe it is because of the pop culture and Hollywood, but people from these two places are so different in all aspects.

For some reason, this year has been the year for engagement. I have heard about so many  people getting engaged since August. I don’t see any problem with this though.

As a matter of fact, when I see a young lady say that she is engaged, I look at them and think, “Good for you.” It is great that these young ladies are thinking about settling down and being committed to someone, but then again I wonder,  “Are they even ready?”

When you are in your early twenties, I don’t think that you have all the maturity you need to handle a family. It is not a one day thing, it is a lifelong situation, if everything goes right on course. It is a complex commitment.

One of my friends once told me, “I don’t know how my parents do it; seeing the same face every morning for 30 years.” Relationships are long term commitments, and they are challenging. However, when I think about it, I think it might have something to do with the way they were raised.

Midwestern people have a strong sense of family, and maybe that is why people get into relationships so early. They want to hurry up and have a family of their own.

I know that females in California are not looking to get into anything serious in their younger years because of all the things that go on around them.

Hollywood. They all want to be Hollywood stars; that’s the reality. Hollywood has messed up their minds with all the illusions they get from movies, music videos, magazines, etc.

The Midwest is a very  different area because people here are still conservative. It is a completely different culture.

“There is a sense of commitment to each other as a family. There is a strong bond of family loyalty,” Ron Hanson, professor of Agribusiness, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said in an article titled, “9 characteristics of a strong family working relationship.”

In addition to that, everybody seems to know everybody. That is not the case in California.

For example, I don’t even know my neighbors, and I have lived in the same house for a while now. People you have lived next to for years don’t even say hi to you, and you sure aren’t getting any help from them when you need it.

When I think about it, I know that conservatism isn’t a bad thing. There are many issues that conservative people don’t have. I am not going to go into details, but some people know what I am talking about.

When you lived in the Midwest for a while, you just appreciate the culture. You appreciate how people care and think about their families. You also have a great deal of respect for these young ladies following in their parents’ footsteps and keep the conservative culture alive.

While I’m not saying we should all be conservative, it’s nice to see that liberalism hasn’t destroyed the unique family values found in the Midwest.