It seems like most readers take the story as being about dementia, but I listen to a story like this and it sounds unrealistic. The idea that a young man and a woman could just encounter each other and make some kind of connection is completely outside my life experience. If I were the guy in the anecdote about how they met, the moment s…
It seems like most readers take the story as being about dementia, but I listen to a story like this and it sounds unrealistic. The idea that a young man and a woman could just encounter each other and make some kind of connection is completely outside my life experience. If I were the guy in the anecdote about how they met, the moment someone made eye contact with me, I’d be thinking about how to handle the eventual harassment complaint, who my witnesses would be for the legal case, how I’d handle the logistics of the upcoming legal battle, etc.
And these couples that stay together for decades on end. I know so many intelligent young professionals who would never even consider a long-term relationship, a fair number who are already divorced, and most of the ones with actual partners I think probably should be divorced. Romantic relationships, in my experience, are not available for young professionals in cosmopolitan areas; this sort of life is for extreme social conservatives who live in ethnically homogenous communities and are quasi-forced to get married by their religions. The apps don’t help the situation, but it was true well before apps were invented.
I’m a mere 38, but I gave up on the possibility of a life trajectory like the one this author describes decades ago.
John hi, I can promise you that as long as you believe that the one who makes eye contact with you will be your potential court case, then you're correct: you'll never find the right person. You haven't given up a life trajectory like mine, you've given up on the possibility of love and connection. Not a good scenario for a happy life. You might consider dismantling your well-constructed fortress and consider some more life affirming options.
I understand your point, but I find it naively optimistic. I have indeed given up on the possibility of love and connection, and the main thing I wish is that I hadn't entertained that possibility in the first place, given what it cost me. Love is optional. Living is not.
It seems like most readers take the story as being about dementia, but I listen to a story like this and it sounds unrealistic. The idea that a young man and a woman could just encounter each other and make some kind of connection is completely outside my life experience. If I were the guy in the anecdote about how they met, the moment someone made eye contact with me, I’d be thinking about how to handle the eventual harassment complaint, who my witnesses would be for the legal case, how I’d handle the logistics of the upcoming legal battle, etc.
And these couples that stay together for decades on end. I know so many intelligent young professionals who would never even consider a long-term relationship, a fair number who are already divorced, and most of the ones with actual partners I think probably should be divorced. Romantic relationships, in my experience, are not available for young professionals in cosmopolitan areas; this sort of life is for extreme social conservatives who live in ethnically homogenous communities and are quasi-forced to get married by their religions. The apps don’t help the situation, but it was true well before apps were invented.
I’m a mere 38, but I gave up on the possibility of a life trajectory like the one this author describes decades ago.
John hi, I can promise you that as long as you believe that the one who makes eye contact with you will be your potential court case, then you're correct: you'll never find the right person. You haven't given up a life trajectory like mine, you've given up on the possibility of love and connection. Not a good scenario for a happy life. You might consider dismantling your well-constructed fortress and consider some more life affirming options.
I understand your point, but I find it naively optimistic. I have indeed given up on the possibility of love and connection, and the main thing I wish is that I hadn't entertained that possibility in the first place, given what it cost me. Love is optional. Living is not.