Q & A

Q: Are you a loner?

A: Yes.

How did I get here? Looking over the Wikipedia entry on loners, this jumped out at me:

Some individuals refuse to interact with others because of perceived or actual superiority in terms of ethics or intellect. They relate only to individuals they consider worthy of their time and attention. Therefore, this type of loner will have very few intimate relationships.

This is me. I can relate to a wide number of people on a basic level. I am not shy. But to clear the next hurdle, people need to be intelligent and virtuous. I don't meet many with these qualities. I find that most people are ignorant pieces of shit.

People might conclude that I have impossible standards. But this is not the case. When I tell the stories of family, friends, and girlfriends, I relate exactly what they have done, and it blows people's minds. You can't make shit like this up. A great example would be my cousin who I have much love for, but he has drug and alcohol problems. I have spent many hours with this guy, and my live and let live libertarian approach to life makes me very non-judgmental. I told him I didn't care what he did as long as he didn't hurt me. The guy has stolen my money, my credit card, and even my car to go score drugs and alcohol. At some point, you have to cut it off.

The conclusion people have drawn when I relate these stories is that my standards have actually been ridiculously low. I totally agree. So, I ratchet those standards up, and here I am. I am a loner. This is the price I have to pay to keep people from stealing my shit, borrowing my shit and not returning it, asking me for money, bothering me while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, cheating on me, or basically filching my time with their incessant whining about their problems but not having the reciprocal courtesy to listen to anything I say which is usually the answer to their problems.

I am a loner. The result is that I now have zero drama in my life. After 40 years, I am now boring. I am no longer a good topic for gossip because I don't do anything and nothing happens to me. People ask me what I am going to do on my weekends, and the answer is reading books. I enjoy my life now, but it doesn't make for interesting conversation anymore.

There is nothing wrong with me. The problem is a society that prizes stupidity and drama. Evenings and weekends are spent riding motorcycles, drinking, cheating on spouses and significant others, and being utter fools. You have people that haven't read a book since high school. Am I better than these people? Yes!

I'm not into drinking. I have never done drugs. I used to party, but I am tired of paying the price for it. So, I lead a quiet life. Part of this comes from my turn to minimalism. The other part is just fatigue from dealing with the bullshit. I don't hang out at the bar. I hang out at the bookstore, the library, and the coffee shop. Even though there are people there, these places are not hot beds of social interaction.

When I get bored, I either work, write, or read a book. When other people get bored, they stir up shit. This is why I am a loner. I have lowered my tolerance for bullshit.

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