Another nice mealtime I've ruined for someone

Someone asked me today why I’m not married. Silly girl.
She was one of the young Deputy Managers in the store and we got chatting when I went over to the canteen for lunch (the broccoli and stilton soup was excellent).
We were talking about Christmas. It was the first one she’d spent with her new boyfriend and it had gone very well despite her nerves. I remarked that Philippa and I have been together for a while so it was old hat for us.
A bit later she said “It’s beautiful the way you talk about her. You’re obviously very much in love. Forgive me for asking, but why aren’t you married?”
Now maybe I was relaxed after eating and enjoying her company, or maybe she touched a bit of a painful nerve on a topic I’ve been trying hard to avoid at home, but either way I heard myself telling her the truth:
“I’m not married because I don’t want to turn into an arsehole. Everyone I know who is married has forgotten how to be themselves, and forgotten what they used to like about their partners. The men have had affairs and bragged about them to their friends; the women have had affairs and lied about them to everyone. They both want to walk away and start again before it’s too late, but they’re both reluctant to do it because they’re scared to be alone, and because legally and logistically it’s a nightmare. Marriage is a sham, and a game, and a one-way dead-end street and it changes people in a horrible way. Relationships are more honest without it, and there would be far fewer tears in the world if we consigned the whole idea to the dustbin.”
She looked as if she was about to burst into tears, and stared at her empty plate as she said “You do realise how sad that sounds, don’t you?”
I said “Yeah. I’m just glad I said it to you and not my fiancee.”

RC 12-1-15