Why is marriage so hard?

I know that this is supposed to be more of a political blog designed to put me into the oval office in the year 2020, but it also is meant for me to help fix the horrors that haunt our world such as the oh so stupid notion of global warming (which I am halfway done with a blog concerning this). Well, there has been something that has been bothering me lately that I have wanted to yell about and so I decided that I would do it here. It is concerning to me the way women are treated.
A few weeks ago, I was at work and my friend came up to me and asked if I had seen the new girl that was working in the Halliburton department. I told him no and he went on to tell me all about her and how beautiful she was. I think the thing that stood out to me the most was when he asked if I could imagine being married to her. Now reading this, you would think that this was completely harmless, and I'm sure it was meant to be... but all I could think about asking him was if he were married to her would he say the same thing about his wife (who was 8 months pregnant) should she walk by. The thing that really bothers me is he does it often, checking out other women and many times asking me what I think about them. I know that he loves his wife and that he would never cheat on her, but how would she feel if she knew he was looking at all these different women?
Recently, one of my friends who had been married for over two years decided he was getting bored with his wife. He met this cute young girl at work and they started texting. What was a friendship at work turned into over 1200 texts in a month, then to her coming to watch him in his soccer games, and then to, eventually, an affair. He called his wife the night he first "officially" cheated and told her that he was unhappy and that he wanted a divorce. She was completely devastated.
Everyone tells me that marriage is harder than it looks and someday I'll understand. Maybe, but not likely at the dating rate I'm going... but right now I don't understand. What is it that is so hard? If you haven't gotten bored of reading this yet and know, please e-mail me a heads up or something. But, until then, this is what I have come up with. I think that marriage (or any relationship) is so hard due to just simple selfishness and lack of concern for your companion.
Ever hear the saying that chivalry is dead? I believe it. Look around. Nobody cares anymore. Guys treat women like crap and women want a guy that will treat them like crap because that means they're tough. It blows me away when a girl, especially one in a relationship, asks me why I'm so nice to her. Did I really just get asked that? Doesn't your boyfriend treat you like this? Doesn't he treat you with basic respect? It is so simple and always makes the biggest difference. It's always the little things that counts. When I am in a relationship I will make it a point to compliment my girlfriend every day. I won't lie, sometimes finding a compliment can be pretty hard, especially considering some of the beasts I've dated, but I still try. Since I was 16, I don't think there has been a girl that has gotten into the front seat of my car without me opening the door for her, even for my sisters. I never invite a lady to dinner without me paying, even if it is just friends.
But probably the biggest thing that you can do, is to watch what you say around your companion. This is the one that bugs me the most. I was at a party a few months back and we had a movie on. The guys there started talking about this actress in the movie. It quickly became an argument on who was hotter between two actresses. They started talking about which one they wanted a poster of for their walls. Their wives were sitting next to them the whole time and not one of them even said a thing. What kind of self esteem do these women have that they would allow themselves to be degraded like this? I wonder if each night in bed if any of these guys are comparing the mother of their children to some slut they saw on a movie. The same thing goes both ways though on this one. My last girlfriend and her roommate never once saw a six pack that they didn't point out. Now I'm not really fat, but definitely a long ways away from a six pack. I always felt so embarrassed and second-hand when they would do that.
I know that this is getting long and it is definitely preachy, so I'll try to wrap it up. I started dating a girl a few weeks back that I just fell head over heals for. She moved away to Idaho and it damn near put me into a depression. Despite her good looks, perfect figure, and being an absolute blast to be around, probably that thing that made me fall for her the hardest was the way that she treated me and I'm not even sure how she felt about me. Every time I opened the door for her she would say thank you and lean over and open my door for me as I walked around the car. When I would cook for her, she would clear the table and help with the dishes. When I would take her to a movie, she was insistent on paying for dinner. She constantly did things just to be courteous to me and show her appreciation for what I do for her. The point is, she made me happy. I was told that if you really want to learn to love someone, you should serve them. I never believed it until I tried it. Thanks for letting me vent and remember vote Jeff 2020.