Divorce rate rises after Calgary Stampede

Source: UPI

Canada's annual Calgary Stampede got under way Friday as divorce consultants prepared for their own surge in unhappy couples after the 10-day event.

Billed as the world's biggest outdoor rodeo event, the Alberta city goes into party mode, which Karen Stewart, founder of Fairway Divorce Solutions, told Sun Media leads to a lot of infidelity.

"It's the sexual undertones, the alcohol, the letting loose," she said. "Thousands of beautiful men and women come out of the woodwork at Stampede and people look incredibly sexy when you put them in a cowboy hat."

She said she sees as much as a 40 percent jump in the number of people filing for divorce in the weeks after the stampede.

Artist Shaun Doiron told the news service there's a saying in the city "it's not cheatin', it's Stampedin'."

"Stampede is like a Las Vegas for a lot of people," he said. "It's not the rodeo anymore, it's a big party."

It's Stampede time again and the city of Calgary here is insane again. Ten days of nothing but drinking and partying. If you're working downtown, you hardly work and just go pig out at every free Stampede breakfast you can find!

You can wear jeans to the office for the whole time, which also can make people look more attractive. Not that anyone is ever in their office during Stampede week, but you have to go in to pick up your tickets to that day's boozy breakfast and lie once again on your voice mail. Not that anyone will call because they will be at the boozy breakfast too.

This study does not surprise me at all. You could have a married couple who have regular mundane lives 355 days in a year. But for 10 days starting with the first Friday in July, they just lose it. They put in a cowboy hat and jeans and hit all the bars in town. PARTY! Then they see hot cowboys and hot cowgirls and ponder why the heck they're married. I like cowboy spirit but it really is the most fake festival anyone can think of.

Everyone all at together now: YEE-HAW!!!!!

Take a free cowboy hat!