One sleepy afternoon during the summer of 2002, we blockmates drafted a ‘marriage contract’ out of lack of anything better to do. The contract stipulated:
We, the undersigned, do solemnly swear to bequeath a REFRIGERATOR of good quality to the first in our block to marry, provided that the following conditions have been met by the bride or groom:
1. the bride must not be pregnant or if a groom, he must not have impregnated a female of any specie.
2. no eloping allowed.
3. the bride and groom must be fresh; meaning they have no previous marriage ties.
4. gayuma or pikot is not applicable; marriage should be with the willfull consent of both parties.The following conditions should also be met:
1. all block members must be gainfully employed.
2. all the block members must be properly notified of the marriage.
3. a proper investigation must be conducted to ensure that all conditions have been met.
Disclaimer: the words were intentionally written that way to be funny.
Though the draft never really made its way into a formal document and did not really get signed, we have always known about it and so when it was announced that one of us was going to get married, we wondered if she deserved the ref. Though technically she is not entitled to it because she did not meet the first condition (she was three months pregnant when she walked down the aisle), we still decided to give it to her because she was the first in the block to get married and invite everyone.
I myself didn’t mind since my share was only half a grand and Cate was the one who scoured the city for a ref that would fit our budget. My only regret is that I was not able to go home and witness the event, since I was informed about it just one week before the date and flights were no longer available. Oh well. I’ll just make sure to be home for the next wedding. This time I hope it’s one of my closer friends and that I am a bridesmaid!