The Split(s) Revisited.

A letter writer on this page (“An Imaginary Line”) entirely missed the point of the June 1 “Splits” editorial. The editorial was not “lamenting” an imaginary dividing line between North and South County.

To the contrary, the editorial illustrated that the dividing line was anything but imaginary; indeed, that the existing dividing line should be formally recognized by officially splitting North and South County - similarly to the split(s) proposed by Rep. Adam Hasner and others of the Palm Beach County School District.

Indeed, as noted in the June 1 editorial, there are several reasons to consider splitting the county - the specific instance of the PBIFF being ignored only a symbolic bit of substance upon which to hang the hat of that reality.

The editorial’s point was the larger one of splitting in general, and then illustrated by what happened that awards evening.

The letter writer goes to great lengths in a thinly veiled effort to suggest that the editorial was merely our echoing of sour grapes by PBIFF that the largely South County promoted and provided film festival didn’t win the award.

That’s not what the editorial said or even implied.  What it said was --- and when it came time to verbally acknowledge the finalists for the award - that the PBIFF was not mentioned.  Every other finalist was verbally noted to the audience.  Every single one.  Except the PBIFF.

That was the point. Ignored literally. Period. 

And despite everything else that went on positively that evening, that ignoring was a pristine example supporting the larger point: the sheer size, and resulting unwieldy nature of Palm Beach County, might lend itself to such a discussion of splitting.  That’s not hallucinatory; that’s reality.

Speaking of Splits

With divorce once the exception, and now the rule, the National Marriage Project says there are some clearly identifiable personal and social factors that affect the potential for divorce. Your odds for divorce increase if any of the following (and increase dramatically if a combination of the following) factors applies:

·        Having an income lower than $25,000.
·        Having a child before marriage.
·        Coming from a divorced family.
·        Having no religious affiliation.
·        And having no college education. 

The factors are listed in order of effect, with income level seeming to have the greatest affect on whether a couple divorces. According to the study, a couple that makes less than $25,000 has a 30 percent increased chance of divorcing. For a couple who has a child before marriage, or within the first seven months, the chance of divorce increases 24 percent. If a couple is younger than 18 years old, the chance of divorce also increases 24 percent, as compared to those who marry at a later age. And those who come from divorced families are 14 percent more likely to divorce than those who do not.

The irony is that for many Boca Raton readers, these factors that contribute to greater divorce rates are precisely those that were frowned upon and worked against back in the so-called “good ole days.”