IsoTypes
I had a creepy single moment the other day.
Most of the time I really enjoy the freedom of being alone. However, sitting down in a movie house to see a chick flick, two young teenagers in the same row gave me a look reminding me how our society views people not in a group.
I wanted to explain that I do have friends, that I didn't have to see this film alone; that I wanted to. However, explaining all that would make me seem even creepier so I let the feeling go and sat back to enjoy the movie (which was about two people who were obviously destined not to be alone).
If a girl likes her alone time in public, there is no getting away from the occasional creep feeling - I imagine it is infinitely worse for a guy.
Our whole lives seemed programmed towards being with other people. Even at home we are hanging out with our friends on TV, listening to our favorite musicians or reading what other people wrote. We are supposed to grow up with our families, go to college, meet other students and find our mate, get married, have kids, go out with friends... If you aren't going out as a couple you are going out in a group.
Yet is this a bad conundrum? The same feeling those teenagers gave me could preserve them from predatory people who really are creeps.
Nevertheless, people who are alone are pitied - the Norwegian bachelor farmer and the old spinster auntie. They end up abandoned at the nursing home depending on the church, strangers, or nieces and nephews to visit.
Perhaps that is too harsh; remember Pippi Longstockings? What about witches and midwives? Remember that favorite uncle who just "never could settle down"? I aim to create a new stereotype, instead of being the crazy old cat lady, I aspire to be the insane guinea pig gal - with the little critters running rampant in my house. Instead of dour, I'll be giggly, always chuckling about the infinite nature of the universe and inside jokes that no one else could possibly understand.