Sunday, February 24, 2008

For Sale: 1 slightly used soul $40 obo

Yesterday I spent an hour answering questions about my personal life for the University of Michigan. I told them going in that it was going to be boring, but they thought I was being funny. For $40 I told them when I first had sex (I thought physics-math was hard, try going back in time that far) and the last time I had sex (so when Belgium beat Germany in the World Cup that was ... hmm ...) and whether or not I wanted children or thought I would have children at some point, and did I have any physical limitations that would keep from from having children.

It left me feeling a little guilty. I don't have any physical limitations ("How about [fill in health issue]?" no. "How about [fill in psychological issue]?" no) and yet I had to be honest and answer no and no to want and foresee children in the future. It's not that I'm career-oriented and junk, I just don't think it's a good idea for me to have a kid that I can't afford -- sure, I've got a full-time job (there were about 7 questions about that), but with a kid that gets impacted and there's no way it would work. Not only that, but I just don't have any patience for that kind of thing (a question they didn't ask). But there's this residual feeling of waste -- hundreds of women can't have children and you can, so why aren't you, you layabout!

So I went out and blew the $40 right away at St. Vincent de Paul and Goodwill. Got some nice binoculars to look at the M42 next time the night is clear WHOO HOO!

2 comments:

reverend dick said...

I hope the binocks (looove saying that) let you look happily beyond the feeling. Kids are a hyuge pain in the ass, and I should know- I'm a hyuge pain in the ass myself with 3 of them! If you don't really want them, that's the only reason you need for not having them. Full stop. There're waaay too many children who are unwanted or treated with less than proper respect/love/attention as is.Were there any questions about that?

I like to thrift shop where I am, because I have the tastes of a 70yr old white man, and they die off alot- leaving me nattily attired in dead men's plaid.

li'l hateful said...

I think kids are great and all, I'm not sayin' they're not (with the exception of some of the kids trucking through Walmart, but that's mostly an issue I have with adults). It's like taking up karate, joining a gym or any of the other shite that I just don't have time for -- I mean, except that having kids is involving people n' stuff, so it's a little more involved than a gym membership (although not much...) and when you ignore a human being there's a good chance that they'll turn into the uni-bomber or a prop-comic, and I just don't want to be responsible for that. And, no, in between the questions about intravenous drug use and did I think 16 year-olds should have sex, there were no direct questions about unwanted or abandoned kids (maybe surveyor had already been to downtown Eugene).

Still not clear enough at night to see the Orion nebula. feck. Why? Why?