First Item of Business

There is currently an army of men with leafblowers just outside my office window. Happy Monday morning, and welcome to spring.

I've got plenty of stuff to write about today, but I wanted to get to one thing right off the bat. I was away from my blog (and indeed, the Internet in general) all weekend, and logged in this morning to find a couple of comments waiting for me. I appreciate the comments--it lets me know I'm not just sitting here mumbling to myself.

There was one in particular, from Jimbo, that I wanted to respond to. His comment was a response to my blog entitled "A Modest Proposal." His comment is as follows:

"If I remember correctly your were once a small child yourself. Oh by the way one day you will have children of your own to enjoy the others around you."

Let's take this one piece at a time.

"If I remember correctly your were once a small child yourself."

You remember correctly. The difference, of course, is that I was never allowed to act like such a moron in public. I think Jimbo might know that already. Kids will be kids, of course, but at some point the parents (or whoever is in charge at any given point) need to take action and keep their kids from getting out of control. I don't think this is too much to ask.

"Oh by the way one day you will have children of your own to enjoy the others around you."

Simply put, it's not gonna happen. I've said for a very long time that I would never have children. Admittedly, I wondered myself if that was true or not, and I eventually started qualifying it by saying that I didn't want children, but that I was willing to negotiate with the right person. I think I've found the right person. However, I also think the days of being willing to negotiate are waning, and may even be entirely gone. I do not want to have children. Period.

Why don't I want children? To be blunt, I'm too selfish. I know that having children requires a great deal of sacrifice that I'm not willing to make. I like being able to just go and do the things I want to do, without having to worry about dragging irritating kids along, or having to find a babysitter. I'm not doing it.

For what it's worth (probably not much), I happen to think most people are too selfish to have kids. I'm just one of the rare ones willing to admit it and take steps to avoid the situation.