Each June when I arrived for my summer job, the same old welder who always wore tan bib overalls would greet me in the lunch room with the same question … he would lean back on his chair and ask so all others around could hear “Are you married yet?” I would always give him the same stock answer, “No, I can’t afford it.”
He would laugh and say, “You need to find someone who will have you first, don’t ‘Ya?” … then he’d smile and walk away laughing again as he sucked on his toothpick.

I always thought he was a wise old guy, but now I realize he really wasn’t wise at all.
He never mentioned that finding someone who would have you is less than one third of the equation.

First … you probably do find someone who will have you. (in his words)
Second … that same girl is the one who will take you. (to the cleaners)
and Third … that same girl is the one who leaves you.

I wish I could see that old welder again even though by now he’s long dead and gone.
When he said “You need to find someone who will have you first, don’t ‘Ya?” … I would now have a comeback statement
and would say to him … “and then take You and leave You … right?”

… then, I wonder if he’d walk away laughing as he sucked on his toothpick?