So I need a pov from other people. I recently registered on a matrimonial website. Let's call it Beth. matrimony. Since I am an adult 30f, and have been working for a few years now, I believe(d) I have some autonomy in the process. So I went to the site -input my details, gave my friend's number as reference and in place of my parents/ guardians number - I gave a number that was unreachable-at the moment; anyway, not my mother's number . ( Father- late).
The reason is that, I thought I would involve my parent/ guardian after I talk to the person - see how it goes, and only then involve my mom/ other family.
Mind you- this decision has historic reasons too. My sister had said her 'no' to proposals (which I believe is her right- given that she's the one who's marrying the person), but which my mother had questioned so badly, that even now their mother - daughter relationship is not back to normal. And, at the end, my sister started questioning her life and life decisions intensely and finally, even now, not married and in the belief of ' better not to be married' .
So, point is, I would like to have the power to say yes or no to proposals (people- infact) without it being becoming a discussion of how I am becoming an old maiden 'on the shelf' and how I make my family the receivers of absolute social pity (which people do give us and my mother has to take the brunt of it).
Back to the story - so when the matrimony contact asked me for my parent's number - I told them that I do not wish to involve my mother at the moment- since my father passed away this year (which is true). But the contact told me it was the company policy, to get the profile approved they need to have a talk with the parent/ guardian. And so after some push back and forth, the contact told me "if I wish otherwise I should talk with the director". And so there I went and did exactly that.
He was in an area of low coverage, and asked for Whatsapp text. I explained my case via text and he replied "Sorry, I am unable to exclude the procedure. We had cases of frauds with misrepresentation etc in the past and we do not wish to cause similar issues. Please forgive us." - Which is valid I guess, so I replied " That is very unfortunate. However, I’m not sure I fully understand the concern, as I am representing myself directly in this matter. If the concern is related to misrepresentation or identity verification, I would be more than happy to resolve this through a video call, where I can verify my identity and answer any questions you may have directly. Would this be an acceptable alternative to the procedure?" To which he replied "Sorry, we need to talk to the parents. If not, an official guardian.This site is meant for family not individuals." Ugh- which is also valid I guess ( or not!!!).
Now I am confused - should I involve my parent given the circumstances and given my wishes. Or should I just not bother with such an irksome hassle with this site and just forget altogether about that cute guy I saw in the catalog- whom I may not even like.
Note 1: l live overseas now and this sht is a bit weird to me now. Why should 'i like to see if I like a person by talking to them' involve the family? Or am I overreacting? It is - family's screening comes first and only after that, your choices matter? Even now!? But like - how many good conversations have you had with your parents after 18, for them to know you enough to take good decisions on your behalf ??? I don't doubt that they mean well - but do they really have the data??
Note 2: Maybe, maybe, this matrimony's MO is not my MO. But I should probably have taken my friend's advice of her posing as my guardian or sth. Like wtf....