The Dynamics of Divorce 35
If increased mobility is indeed a causal factor, the rest of the coun-
try will be heading down the same road as Hawai‘i.
Many folks display a headlong hedonistic mentality when they
come to Hawai‘i. People come to our islands looking for fun in
the sun. This tends to foster a disposable approach toward life
in general. If it’s no longer working, or no fun anymore, then toss
it out! This can apply to your old surfboard, a disposable lighter,
or your spouse.
A nation of spoiled yuppies. While these trends toward increased
transience and self-centered hedonism may have hit the extreme
stage in Hawai‘i, they are typical of the nationwide drift. Sev-
eral other states have equally high divorce rates, and a few are
even worse. Often, the highest divorce statistics occur in exactly
the kind of yuppie places that you would expect. Problem spots
include California, Florida, parts of Colorado, and other life-is-a-
playground resort-type areas. Statistically, Hawai‘i’s divorce rate
is eleventh in the country, following California and a few other
hotbeds.
Overall, the statistics are staggering. One often hears the catch
phrase of “one divorce out of every two marriages.” My guess is
that in the long run we are probably heading toward a divorce
rate that will be even slightly higher than that. (As discussed ear-
lier, the divorce rate seems to have leveled off temporarily—but
just wait until they come up with a vaccine against AIDS!)
The “uniforms theory.” Here in Hawai‘i we have a unique prob-
lem—what I call my “uniforms theory” of divorce. Anytime you’ve
got a lifestyle with a high degree of mobility, constantly shifting
work venues or schedules, or various other sorts of built-in fluc-
tuations, there tends to be even more extreme stress put on rela-
tionships. So, in a place like Hawai‘i, which has a high military
population as well as a high percentage of its populace involved
in the various facets of the tourist industry (i.e., flight attendants,
hotel bellboys—basically anybody who wears a uniform to work),
you can expect an increased problem.
By definition, whenever you have people constantly changing
job descriptions (i.e., sailors heading out to sea for six months at a
stretch, or the cop or fireman who gets transferred from day shift
to night shift), the slippery and shifting logistics inherent in those