Whitney Shouldn't Ditch Her Job For Bachelor Chris

Despite the fact that Chris Soules has warned the contestants on The Bachelor — and us — all season long about how winning this competition means moving to smallest town in the entire world, nothing could've prepared me for the reality of what Arlington, Iowa actually is... or more accurately, what it isn't. Between the lack of people out and about on main street, all the businesses closed in the middle of the day, and the lack of necessities like restaurants and grocery stores, Arlington is practically a ghost town. And now that I've seen it, I just can't reconcile the idea that the woman who wins has to give up their entire lives for this. And although Kaitlyn and Becca have lives of their own going on that I'm sure they don't want to give up, Whitney especially shouldn't give up her job as a fertility nurse for Arlington and Chris.

Because like Whitney's said before: she's worked hard to get to this point in her career, and she seems incredibly proud of it. Seeing her at work during her hometown date really drove that point home, and I think it's awesome that she has a hand in helping families have children who have trouble conceiving them the traditional way. Whitney is smart and driven, and I fear that her talents will be wasted sitting around the farm, waiting for Chris to finish milking the cows. If Chris truly is the man she belongs with, I would hope he would never ask her to give up the life and career she's built in exchange for his goals.

After all, he's asking a lot. Arlington is small, quiet, and removed from society. For any of these women to move there, they would have to resign themselves to giving up their careers, their friends and family, many of their hobbies, and the hope of making friends in the future. There's little else for them to do there than hang out with Chris, and that isn't healthy. Your whole life cannot be your significant other. Not even if he is The Bachelor.

And although Chris seems to think what he's looking for is a woman who loves him enough to live on his farm, that's just not the way the world works. It's a romantic idea, but how many actual healthy relationships would survive one person sacrificing everything for their partner who has sacrificed nothing?

Besides, moving to Iowa is just the tip of the iceberg. What else is Chris going to want her to give up for the good of his farm and his business? Maybe instead of Chris waiting for someone who loves him enough to live in the middle of nowhere for him, he should be waiting for someone who he loves enough to strike a compromise with? When you truly love someone, you don't selfishly ask them to give up their entire lives for you — not if their happiness and their best interest is a priority for you. And if you're marrying someone, this rule is an absolute must.

And as far as that compromise goes, there's got to be a way to reach one for Whitney and Chris. Farmer boy says he visits Des Moines a lot. Why not hire help on his farm and make Des Moines (or a town somewhere in the middle) a permanent base? He can go back and forth to check on things back home a few times a week — because an occasional two and a half hour commute is annoying, but not impossible — and Whitney can continue building her career. If later, they have children and decide that Whitney wants to become a stay at home mom and they want to raise them on the farm in the middle of nowhere, so be it. I have no problem with that. But for now, I don't see why she should have to give absolutely everything up just because it fits in with the Prince Farming marketing.

Image: Jean Whiteside/ABC; Giphy