I heard a statistic on the radio, that the volume of calls to divorce lawyers increases by 30 to 40 percent in the weeks following the Calgary Stampede. I guess the combination of copious amounts of alcohol and cowboy hats leads to marital discord. Maybe it could be a new slogan “The Calgary Stampede: Ten days of debauchery with bad fashion”.
The other, less quantified statistic is the surge in pregnancies during Stampede, and though I may talk high and mighty, I myself became pregnant during Stampede 2003, along with half of my prenatal class. The other half was probably thinking “You guys are losers”. We had been trying to get pregnant for a while, to no avail; long hours at my high stress job may have had something to do with it. But what happens when you add an afternoon “work” party with several Smirnoff Ice’s and a handsome and willing husband? Stampede magic, baby.
So it’s done for another year, and the city is getting back to its normal, non-cowboy-hatted self. I’m happy to report that in defiance of civic duty and tradition, I am still happily married and also not pregnant.
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