That is unfortunately less of a social phenomenon and more of a logical result of our combination two-party/first past the post system. After years of having to strategically vote against the worst option instead of for the best, we are only left with a “lesser of two evils” decision.
I caught her cheating off my test in a gen-ed health class in my freshman year of college. I am normally a pretty strict rule follower, but this class sucked so much that I didn’t care. After that, we started talking a bit after each class.
The next semester, we worked together on the groundskeeping crew for the school, and she got to see me do a classic Looney Tunes self-injury when I threw something heavy down on one end of a shovel lying next to me. The wooden end flew up, knocking my glasses clear off and giving me a black eye, and she rushed over to make sure I was okay.
We’ve been married for 5 years now!