Why are some older single people portrayed as "weird"?

Post Reply New Topic

For some reason or other, it doesn't reassure me that I have work colleagues/friends who are 50 and 60 and are single. My assistant manager is single and lives by himself but he had a cat but it died not that long ago. My supervisor was single since her late 30s, when she had to care for her grandfather in his 90s until he passed away a year or two years ago. She is still single I think. My younger colleagues are almost all married and have kids, my manager who is 31 I think, has only just started seeing someone and sometimes being around them knowing that, continues to give me the impression that I "should" be married with kids by now because they are even though there is no rule saying you should.

Some of my older colleagues are easy going and comfortable to talk to and my assistant manager has talked to me about how he used to work for Forbidden Planet, he had famous people come into his shop to sign autographs and books and things from people like Simon Pegg to Christopher Lee and talks about games, comics and other stuff as well. He seems like he is happy but some reason, maybe my assumptions are unfounded but seem to think if there is a story of someone who is older and still single and likes things like games, comics etc since childhood, it irritates me when some younger people look upon them as "strange". I don't know if it's because they are young and usually hang out and go out with people their own age and see those things an older person doing is what a younger person ought to be doing, not when they are older.

Is it a matter of portrayal, or are they actually weird? Some folks are weird, there's nothing wrong about being weird.

One of my uncles on my dad's side has been single since I was a kid or teen. He's currently in his upper 60s. He mighta had a girlfriend a couple years ago for a while but they may have been just good friends. She was like 25/30 years younger than him so my parents didn't ask about the nature of their relationship. Her & her family were from China & moved back after a while.

My mom has compared me to him when I was chronically single but he doesn't seem much like me or an Aspie otherwise. He worked as a caterer for a hotel most all my life till he retired a couple years ago. He's always really liked things like fishing, camping, & going to festivals. The weirdest thing about him is that he's been mostly single & that's probably because he likes having some freedom to do stereotypical guy stuff.

I think some of it has to do with "social conditioning".
For years older single people have been the focus of ridicule. Look at the card game "old maid" and terms like "spinster" which have origins from long ago, making fun of "unlovable, unmarriageable" sorts of people, especially as they get older. "bachelor farmers" "hermits" and other individuals stand out because they really are different.
Today "different" is much more OK than it has been in the past. But not for everybody, not everywhere.

Society is slowly changing to be more accepting of differences among others, but nature is selective and there are always going to be those at the bottom of the food chain, or "pecking order".
We can look at animals in nature and how they interact to see this is always so and will likely always be so.
Anybody who is "different" is likely to be singled out for many reasons. Blame mother nature.

It's because I actually am weird and I'm not ashamed of it. Not very many 50 year olds want to look like German soldiers.

Because it *is* weird for a 50 year old to be playing Animal Crossing and wearing Minnie Mouse T-shirts in public. I know NTs love to think all such people must be predators, but whatever.

Hey! Stop starting threads about me!! !

they are weird to some insecure people

I like weird

We are all a little weird (which is an anagram of wired).

I fall within that category of being single above 50. If that makes me weird, so be it. I enjoy my freedom to do as I please. Each year I attend a few comic cons and can afford the “VIP” passes to them that run in the multiple hundreds of dollars each. I have gotten comments from frustrated parents with kids in tow about “it must be nice to be able to afford that”. The answer to them is a smug “Yes, it is”. They could have chosen to do what I have done, but it is not an easy path to get there.

Those same parents have to spend hours in line for autographs, while I might wait a few minutes to get one. They have to pay for their whole group even if only one wants something. Once someone tried to get me to give them my pass because they “needed it more” for their kids than I did. Sorry, it does not work that way. I work hard for my money and intend to enjoy it as much as I can while I am still here.

I have been called a “loser” because I can do what I want without needing someone’s approval. They have their life choices to deal with, as I have mine. If that makes me a loser in their book, I am ok with that.

SAY IT LOUD! WEIRD AND PROUD