how distant must a cousin be before one can date them

[JohnnyReb]

how distant must a cousin be before one can date them ...one mile as the crow flies.

[BlueStateSaint]

Happy ass and prison in the same sentence....what a stroke of genius.

Yeah--it's just spurting with genius . . . 

[Vagabond]

I've actually heard this conversation in real life.  I used to live in Southern Maryland.  I worked in Saint Mary's County, which is the southernmost in Maryland, and somewhat geographically isolated with no routes really going through there.  At some point, three families settled in the area and intermarried, and continued to intermarry, on and on ad nauseum, for at least six generations.  They have a very good special disabilities program in their school system because the inbreeding has resulted in a lot genetic problems as well as generally being pretty low in intelligence.  They were told to stop, but they keep on doing it, hence the term Southern Maryland Inbred or SMIB for short.  Anyway....There I was...

Southern Maryland Chick 1 (SMC1) - A woman in her mid-twenties  who constantly complains about the lack of anyone to date.
Southern Maryland Chick 2 (SMC2) - Also, in her mid-twenties, one kid, lives with mom, kid's dad is one of her cousins but he pretty much only shows up to get laid.

SMC1: (to SMC2 over the cubicle wall) Hey, you'll never guess I met somebody this weekend!
SMC2: Really?  Where did you meet him!
SMC1: We had a family reunion, and I met him there!
SMC2: Really? Tell me all about it!
SMC1: Well, he looks just like me! (I would later learn that this is, in fact, true.  He looked like a male version of her.)
SMC2: What is his name?
SMC1: (I don't remember his name)
SMC2: Oh, Well where does he live?
SMC1: He lives with his ma, just west if Leonardtown. (About ten miles, give or take from her and her mom.)
SMC2: Really, are ya'll planning to go on a date?
SMC1: I don't know, how close can cousins be and still be okay.
SMC2: As long as he isn't your first, it should be okay.
SMC1 and 2: Giggles.
Me:  How about not related?
SMC2: What? What do you mean?
Me:  I mean go fill up your car, drive away from here till you only have 1/4 tank of gas left and try to meet some people you aren't related to? (Completely unnecessary as PAX has expanded, but all of those people are outsiders to the SMIBs.)
Me:  Furthermore, genetecists have tested you and told you to stop inbreeding.
SMC1:  Well this is our culture.
SMC2:  The damage is already done, why does it matter now?
Me:  *facepalm*

One of many enlightening moments I had with those two near me.

[Dori]

I've actually heard this conversation in real life.  I used to live in Southern Maryland.  I worked in Saint Mary's County, which is the southernmost in Maryland, and somewhat geographically isolated with no routes really going through there.  At some point, three families settled in the area and intermarried, and continued to intermarry, on and on ad nauseum, for at least six generations.  They have a very good special disabilities program in their school system because the inbreeding has resulted in a lot genetic problems as well as generally being pretty low in intelligence.  They were told to stop, but they keep on doing it, hence the term Southern Maryland Inbred or SMIB for short.

Oh my goodness.

When I was researching genealogy, families did live near each other.  They also had a lot of kids.  One way to trace them was through the English naming pattern. It went something like this;

1st son was named after the paternal grandfather. 2nd son the maternal grandfather, 3 son the oldest paternal uncle and so on.  A lot of times it wasn't until the 7th son was born, before he was named after his father.  The girls were named in the opposite manner.  1st daughter after the maternal grandmother and so on.

Middle names were sometimes the mothers maiden surname or after her brothers etc.  It was a way in which to keep track of who was in your immediate family.  If your searching for a John Smith in Any county, there is a very good chance they all belong to the same line.

I also remember something interesting, was a lot of couples did move across states, so that their kids wouldn't wind up marrying a cousin.

 
  

[Ralph Wiggum]

Star Member arely staircase (8,405 posts) Sat Nov 30, 2013, 06:05 PM

16. intelectual curriosity

I don't think this had anything to with intellect.

[Chris_]

kid's dad is one of her cousins but he pretty much only shows up to get laid

Ew.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOXQTr_3IVw[/youtube]

[obumazombie]

^Holiday Road !

[GOBUCKS]

I don't think this had anything to with intellect.

Intelectual curriosity is among nadin's strong points.

(Or is it inttelectual curiossity? What a kerfunkle.)

On the other hand, everything is among nadin's strong points.

[vesta111]

^Holiday Road !

Ask the out law Mormon's.

Couple years ago when one of their communes were raided and a couple hundred kids taken into protective custody, it was found that the girl's mothers  had been married off to their uncles and even grandfathers.

As the parents of the children refused to cooperate into who was who and may not have really know themselves due to convoluted family history and being wife NO. 18 of one man------  What a mess.

I do not know if DNA was taken from the kids and parents but if so the poor lab techs must have gone bonkers trying to trace any line of family.

Then in MY family in the 1800's when a man with children lost his wife, he often married his wife's sister.    Much like in the old Testament a man was told that when his brother died, he was to marry his widow and care for her and children.

Tracking family from back then becomes difficult from there on.  Whose mother was whom, ETC.

As a teenager I palled about with 2 of my 3'rd cousins, we all had the same G-grand father and same last name.   My fathers parents were aghast, thinking the worse.  But they calmed down when I got a boyfriend with no family ties.

Result is that when my cousin dies the family name is lost after generations, had I married either one and bore male children the family line would go  on for another 4 generations.



   

[miskie]

"nothin' says lovin' like marryin' yer cousin !'

But seriously - isn't inbreeding one of the things that liberals accuse conservatives of doing ? -Yet this primitive is looking for information on the very subject.

[BattleHymn]

"nothin' says lovin' like marryin' yer cousin !'

But seriously - isn't inbreeding one of the things that liberals accuse conservatives of doing ? -Yet this primitive is looking for information on the very subject.

But, they are asking on behalf of someone else.   

Yeah, right. 

[GOBUCKS]

There are no genetic issues here.

DUmmies are most likely talking about cousins of the same sex.

[landofconfusion80]

Trying to type out his letter to the Jerry Springer Show it sounds like.