Writer's Block: Go it alone

[ciroccoj]

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Yes, yes and yes. UGH.

I have wanted to have kids since I was about ten. Didn't really think that much about being in a relationship or not. But damn, hard as it is to be a parent... why would anybody want to pressure anyone else into it? Whose business is it of ours whether or not anybody else chooses to marry and/or procreate? Why can't we accept that some folks just really don't need a "better half" to be happy, and have no desire to be totally responsible, 24/7, for another human being for at least eighteen years?

IMHO? A staggering portion of our societal problems stem from people entering/staying in relationships that do more harm than good, because they've been told they're worthless without a partner. And even more from people spawning when they have no real desire to do so and no aptitude for it, but have been brainwashed into thinking it's just what people are supposed to do.

I would like my boys to eventually get married and have kids. But. If I ever give even the slightest hint that I'm pressuring them to go that way, or that I think less of them because they've reached the ripe old age of whatever and haven't done so yet? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SLAP ME. REALLY REALLY REALLY HARD.

Comments

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

What also sucks is the fact that jobs don't pay enough for a person to live on their own unless they are either (A) reeeeally good at what they do, or (B) have been at their job so long that they make enough to pay the bills. If you want to be able to survive comfortably by yourself, you either have to be married, or you have to have roommates in order to defray costs. And since roommates can do stuff like suddenly move out of the house just before you enter a rough patch where you're going to need that extra money, or refuse to pay their way, it gets sticky.

Then again, if you're married and both working, and one of you loses their job, then you end up having to adjust for that too.

When my mom was married to her ex, there was a period of time where they both had to work at SCAD in order to be able to pay the bills. Granted, he had an assload of debt that they eventually paid off, but both of them were only making enough money where they would've been robbing Peter to pay Paul if they'd been living on their own.

So. Yeah. In order to live comfortably, society ends up forcing everyone (with a few exceptions) to either have permanent, trustworthy roommates.