Hobbies and Life Choices

Alas has an interesting post on the issue of weight and its affect on the lives of Americans. One passage caught my eye:

Cause most of these people don't have any hobbies. They don't know any
other way to live. They've relied on food as entertainment for so long that now
that they don't eat, they have no idea what to do with all of their time.

And that was really the issue all along, wasn't it? Finding something
else to do besides eating. Picking themselves up from depression (usually
incited by the fact that they had twenty "extra" pounds that were actually
perfectly healthy for their size and body composition) and building model
airplanes, or taking up some Jazzercise classes, or even joining a scrapbooking
class. Something besides eating.

This made me think of something from a few years ago. I knew a guy who told me that he was jealous of me because I had goals for what I wanted in life, in becoming a writer, screenwriter, indie filmmaker (a goal at the time), etc. He didn't.

Shortly thereafter, he decided it was "time to get married, and buy a house." Out of the blue. He didn't have a girlfriend or fiancee at the time. He just made getting married and buying a house his goal.

So, he got married, bought a house, and had a kid.

And, thinking about the quote above, I started wondering: If some people are fat because they don't have anything else to do, I wonder how many people get married and have kids because they don't have anything to do.

How many people feel empty and try to fill themselves by starting a family, rather than, or in addition to, eating?

Is it possible that being a geek doesn't keep guys from getting married, but that it gives geeks something to do so they don't have to rush out and get married to fill that empty void?

Food for thought.