Don’t get me wrong…I lived alone after college for about 10 years, and I know how easy it is to get “set in your ways”.
But we have a woman at work who has lived alone for probably the last 30 years and she is, to put it mildly, nuts. She talks aloud to no one in particular and when she screams something like, “What is going on?” “Why is this doing this?” and other such comments, nobody even looks up anymore. Her classic line of late, that had the whole office, including herself, laughing is when her boss gave her an assignment and she forgot what he asked her to do, so she screamed, “Can anyone remember what I was screaming about before I was screaming about that other thing?”
Then there is Cat Woman. She has pictures of her cats all around her cubicle, she packs her lunch in a Garfield lunch box, and stays in her apartment every weekend with her cat and only goes out to go to the grocery store. I overheard her say that she hasn’t had a date in five years and last week a neighbor guy asked her out. Mind you, this is a very, very attractive woman and maybe 42 years old. She said the neighbor guy was good looking, but she said no. The reason? She was at work all week and her cats would miss her if she left them during the weekend.
So my question is…does long-term living alone make someone eccentric, or are these people an exception?
I would think so. Since there’s no feedback loop or necessity of compromise in daily living, one can be …err, conducive to adopting interesting mannerisms and attitudes.
Plenty of crazy people live with others, I work with some and years ago nursed plenty. Also plenty of non-crazy people live alone including lots of rich celebrities. Living alone doesn’t make you a hermit if you still go out and experience the world.
My WAG would be that it’s a cycle: if you’re pretty eccentric, living alone is appealing, because you don’t have anyone there to bug you about your eccentricities. Then, the longer you’re alone, the more eccentricities you develop. Then you get to a point where no one wants to be with you, furthering the cycle, rinse and repeat.
Been living alone for about five years, and I’ve definitely noticed the exaggeration of some of my personality traits. I’ve taken on certain near-compulsive behaviors, like making sure the dishes point the right way in the drying rack, and I’ve become very impatient with things that interrupt my routines, those mild little affectations that become deeply ingrained habits.
Being conscious of it, I’m making a point these days of not letting myself get terribly wrapped up in things, but I can certainly see how years and years of living alone could make one less sensitive to the norms and folkways of social discourse.
Also sometimes when I leave the house I forget to put on pants.
I’ve lived with my husband for nearly 27 years and my daughter for nearly 25. I’ve NEVER lived alone, except for a couple of months now and then when my husband went on temporary duty in the Air Force. And I’m fairly eccentric. My husband and daughter roll their eyes at me, but they’re quick enough to come to me if they want a tricky problem solved, or if they want me to look up something (I’ve always been good at finding information, even before the Internet). I think that some people are simply more eccentric than others.
I hesitate to leave my cat without any humans to keep her company. She gets VERY upset if she’s only got the other cat in the house with her (they’re inside kitties). When I come home after she’s been Abandoned (to hear her tell it) she jumps onto my shoulder and hollers into my ear that I am Not Allowed to Leave Her Alone. The hissy fits she throws when I have to go in the hospital for a few days have to be experienced to be believed. But then, she’s Siamese, and most Siamese are drama queens.
Mind you, if I’d lived alone all these years, I’d probably have even MORE screws loose. And have a dozen cats.
I prefer to think that I don’t want to be with anyone. Part of it is that I’m used to my own company and don’t want to be interrupted or bothered by another person and part of it is that I sometimes don’t think anyone could put up with me for long.
No real weird habits that I can think of though. I haven’t had any pets at all since my goldfishes died years ago, unless you count the crows I feed. And sometimes I like to intentionally sing or whistle off-key. But then, who doesn’t?
This thread has me so depressed. I have lived alone for merely three months and now I am scared that I will be, uh, wierd. I usually enjoy my time to myself, though. I get to sit around and read a lot.
Then there is Cat Woman. She has pictures of her cats all around her cubicle, she packs her lunch in a Garfield lunch box, and stays in her apartment every weekend with her cat and only goes out to go to the grocery store. I overheard her say that she hasn’t had a date in five years and last week a neighbor guy asked her out. Mind you, this is a very, very attractive woman and maybe 42 years old. She said the neighbor guy was good looking, but she said no. The reason? She was at work all week and her cats would miss her if she left them during the weekend.
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I think we’ve all got one of those cat women- there is this old battle axe at work who I am certain is a bag lady for cats.
I lived alone for approximately five years between college and getting married and I was well on my way to eccentricity-land with all my little quirks. No cats, though.
I have lived alone for 7 years now. I have 5 cats, and I have heard all the jokes. However, I would not turn down a date with a hot guy because I needed to spend time with my cats. Please, if I ever get that insane, do euthanize me.
My worst habits have been allowing clutter to get out of hand, letting the dishes go for about two days too long. I don’t like to put away my laundry or hang up my clothes, so they wait around in piles for days on end. OTOH, it’s all my stuff and no one else has to get annoyed with me about it. Also, when I leave two cookies in the box, they are still in the box when I get home. No one else makes noise when I need to sleep. No one moves my stuff so I can’t find it. There’s always hot water when I take a shower. The house is always the temperature I like. All the art on the wall is agreeable to me.
Overall, living alone is right for me. My home is my sanctuary, my safe place, untainted by conflict, fighting, contention, or scariness. Honestly, the next person I live with will be my spouse, because I can’t see giving up this peace and quiet for anyone else.
I think there may be a correlation between people who adjust well to living alone and a love of cats, but I haven’t entirely refined my theory yet.
I don’t live alone, and I am definitely pretty eccentric. When my daughter moves out, I plan on living alone (apart from the cats), enjoying it immensely, and giving in to my budding eccentricities with a vengeance. I won’t give up hot dates for any cat, but if the hot date uses MY breakfast cup they’ll be sorry…
I was reading this thread last night when my friend arrived for an evening of pizza, discussion of our respective love lives, and watching figure-skating.
When he came in, I was watching Lawrence Welk.
I said, “I could explain this, but I’m not sure either of us would feel better about it afterwards.”
Like Lynne I have never lived alone, but am even in my own opinion, fairly fecking eccentric. Me and the mrs often comment that if anyone could see into our appartment they would ring the men in white coats. An example is that earlier today I noticed that they were showing the “Worlds Strongest Man” competition on the telly, and I went to get one of our teddybears to watch it because I “know” that he really likes sports, especially weight lifting. He got to sit out on the couch and watch it and got to drink some Coke, as long as he doesn’t tell his brother he got Coke, cos his brother isn’t allowed to have Coke because it makes him hyperactive. Neither me nor the mrs are particularly interested in weightlifting.
I am fairly sure that counts as eccentric, but it’s pretty harmless.
sounds exactly like my sister. She’s got a good excuse though … she’s bipolar and it’s hard for her to concentrate and stay on track. As she’s trying to complete one task or another she talks to herself and/or inanimate objects.
Perhaps this woman has a similar problem which also prevented her from forming a “significant other” relationship … which in turn leaves her to live alone.
Interesting. I thought my ex-husband and I were the only ones!
When Waterworld was playing in the theaters, I had to take Adolph (the leader of our White Bear Supremacy movement) to the theater with a black scarf tied around one eye, as he was a great admirer of Dennis Hopper. Adolph was one of perhaps forty animals, mostly bears, we had - they had strange political and religious movements going all the time. Think of it as ‘bent whimsey.’
Of course, I was married then and am single now (not because of that - my ex-husband’s name is now Rebecca, with equipment to match), and I have no bears anymore. But most people would still consider me plenty eccentric. I infinitely prefer living alone generally speaking. I think the two tend to go together, at least for people who live alone by choice. We feel more free to indulge our eccentricities.
But most people would still consider me plenty eccentric. I infinitely prefer living alone generally speaking. I think the two tend to go together, at least for people who live alone by choice. We feel more free to indulge our eccentricities.