I'm not gonna 'TL-DR' because I feel it'll dilute context.

Gents, I was wondering if anyone else has struggled against the 'Mr. RIGHT NOW' phenomenon that I feel seems to be highly prevalent in smaller towns/cities...Let me explain, with the caveat that I'm NOT looking to trash talk my ex - as far as I'm concerned MGTOW isn't about hate or disrespect, but not being distracted by the conventional 'relationship' with women.

Long story short - my ex and I dated for seven months. Things were good, but there were aspects of our personalities, like many others that just didn't quite 'sync'. Things ended a couple months ago. We're still on good terms, and talk and hang out, but she's bitter about that fact that I 'wasted her time' - and thus begins my rant.

From my perspective - 6-12 months of dating is still WELL in the 'honeymoon' phase of a relationship. She swears up and down that she could've seen a long term future between us. But I wasn't sure. How COULD I be? You can't KNOW someone inside out in seven months. No matter what I say, or how I frame things, she's always going to be convinced I 'wasted her time'. Which is unfortunate, and a little saddening, because I don't consider it a waste. You learn about yourself and your partner, no matter how long a relationship is.

And I've noticed this pattern a LOT in my town...A majority of women seem determined to blast through the dating period and get RIGHT to 'settling down', moving in together, buying property, having babies, yadda yadda...I work in the justice system and see the results of this poorly contrived plan day in, day out in court, er'ry day. And usually, it's the ill conceived children of these rushed relationships that will end up paying the prince.

Is this a small town thing or pretty universal? Why's everyone in such a goddamn rush? Ideally, I'd want to date someone at least four years before even moving in together. REALLY know someones habits, traits, flaws, and then make a decision. I'm curious to see what you guys think about all of this.