# Share actual problems you've had that no one will ever sympathize with **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064 "2010-06-05T15:24:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/81 "2010-06-24T00:17:33Z")
Is two weeks a zombie? I don’t think so, so I’ll go ahead and post. My husband and I got pregnant pretty much the first time we tried. We were a bit bummed because we had sort of expected that it would take a year or so (for a number of reasons) assuming we were able to at all. We were kind of looking forward to trying. 😃 Now we’ve had to postpone our honeymoon, started setting up the nursery, getting ready for Jr. to arrive and we’re still newly weds (we’ve been married 8 months). We sort of feel like we missed out on some of the fun ‘just married’ stuff. I’ve been sick for pretty much the whole pregnancy so we’ve been trapped at home and the Mr. isn’t getting as much…erm, romance, as he would like, and neither am I for that matter. Then I think about all the people who struggle to get pregnant at all and I feel like a total jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/82 "2010-06-24T00:42:33Z")
My best friend can’t come to the Tool concert I bought tickets for, so I have an extra ticket and nobody to give it to. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/83 "2010-06-24T02:33:38Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Is two weeks a zombie? I don’t think so, so I’ll go ahead and post. > > My husband and I got pregnant pretty much the first time we tried. > > \ > > Then I think about all the people who struggle to get pregnant at all and I feel like a total jerk. We haven’t even started trying yet and I already feel like it’s taking too long. I feel like a total jerk that I’m jealous of you. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/84 "2010-06-24T02:35:48Z")
My son has been playing baseball for a few weeks now. He pitches (and plays generally short, third and sometimes first or center). He is eleven and its just park and rec - nothing serious. But he’s faced 31 batters, walked five, struck out 25 and the one kid who made contact popped it back to … the pitcher. One day soon my kid is going to get lit up like a Christmas tree and he won’t remember how to handle it. Moreover, when it happens, the fielders are so used to “he throws strikes” that they are going to have to put away the cards before they field the ball. And I’m going to get to deal with it. Of course, the other parents don’t sympathize. (it is early in the season in park and rec 4th and 5th grade ball. i.e. a lot of the kids can’t hit.) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/85 "2010-06-24T05:17:57Z")
Until late last year, I’d gone a _very_ long time (no, I mean a _ **really** _ long time) without a girlfriend. And as a 54-year-old man, my libido has been declining steadily over the past decade or more. But for the past eight months I’ve been seeing a hot, beautiful, sexy woman, and she has an I]extremely\* strong sex drive. (No, I mean \*\*\*really \*\*\*strong!) I think she’d do it several times a day everyday if she could. Needless to say, I can’t. (Fortunately for me, we’re not living together. Yet.) The sex is great. And to my surprise, I’m finding my drive is increasing. But I’m still nowhere near her level. So let’s hear it guys: tell me how unfortunate I am (at 54) to be the object of intense sexual desire by a beautiful woman who wants to jump my bones practically all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/86 "2010-06-24T11:49:12Z")
I’m a reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper, a job I love and that lets me stay in tune with current events. I’m married to a beautiful, sexy, intelligent woman who give me a reason to go to the limit every day no matter what I’m doing, and I have about the most stable relationship of anyone I know in my circle of friends and colleagues . I’m respected and loved the world over for my charity work, and considered first among my peers (though I consider us all equal. Yes, even the guy who lives underwater). Yet some days, I wish I could be doing more, that I’m not living up to my full potential. \* \*Ok, so I just wanted to write this fictional one to see if I could. Sorry, Skald. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/87 "2010-06-24T12:03:26Z")
I’m really thin even though I eat a lot (and it’s just genetic, I don’t have any health problems making me underweight), and would like to gain weight for vanity’s sake. It’s getting really hard to find off-the-rack clothes that fit, sizes get bigger every year, and I’m too tall for children’s. Yep, not a lot of sympathy out there for this one. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/88 "2010-06-24T12:48:18Z")
**rhubarbarin** , that’s my problem exactly, compounded by the fact that I’m a forty year old woman living in a college town. The only thing in my size is slutwear! ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/89 "2010-06-24T14:06:26Z")
My brother, who is going to be 58 in August, shares your problem. He has been so thin throughout his post-pubescent life that I have never seen him in a pair of shorts or a short-sleeved shirt (although he always rolls up his sleeves to the elbows, as he can never find a shirt both thin enough and long-sleeved enough); he is embarrassed (although he never says anything). He eats like a horse, rather more exactly than is usually the case, because he is a vegetarian. But no matter what or how much he eats, he remains almost painfully thin. Except now, in his upper fifties, he as developed the faintest little paunch. On a heavier man it would be invisible, and even as he is, you almost have to be looking for it to see it through his layers of clothing (he also runs exceeding cold, sleeping every night in long-johns and a sleeping bag even though he lives near Honolulu, so you never see him without at least an undershirt and a button-down collar shirt over it). Here he is, a man who all his life would have given a great deal to gain just a couple of pounds, and now he’s done it: all in his belly. And me? I’ve struggled with being overweight all my life, and generally have lost big time. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/90 "2010-06-24T14:21:30Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > Yeah, I’ve had this problem before. I think the real issue is that LOTS of girls are a size 6, so that’s the size that always runs out first. > > My (somewhat related) problem is that clothing can’t seem to decide what size it needs to be in order to have it actually fit me. At some stores I’m a small or a size 4. Other stores? A medium and a size 6. (In still other stores I’m a size 7…goddamn I need to stop shopping in the junior’s section.) And at least a few times, I’ve been both a size 4 _and_ a size 6 for two different pairs of pants in the _same store_. Arrrrrrgh! I don’t care what size I am, but pick one and stick to it, already! :mad: I HATE vanity sizing. I’m a 43 year old mother of two. I have the “baby pouch.” I weigh 135 lbs and am 5 6 tall. I’m NOT super skinny. (I’m not overweight, either). There is no way I should be a size six now when 30 lbs lighter in college I was a size eight. I’m the type of shopper who wants to walk into the store and buy the same Levi’s I’ve been buying since I was 18. Grab them off the rack and go - if the old ones are getting tight, buy a size up. If the old ones are getting loose, buy a size down. I can’t do that anymore even with the same brand. I’ve gone from a ten to a six, and I haven’t lost any weight! I will not bitch about this to my size eighteen friends, who are darn glad they get into size eighteen. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/91 "2010-06-24T15:19:48Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > My best friend can’t come to the Tool concert I bought tickets for, so I have an extra ticket and nobody to give it to. I can help you with that. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/92 "2010-06-24T15:30:30Z")
Add another “tiny woman can’t find clothes” complaint. I’m 40 years old, 5’ 2", and weigh 120 lbs. I require clothing from the Petite section. My complaint is that, inexplicably, buyers for petite sections in department stores seem to think that petite = granny. I cannot find nice dress pants for work that do not have an elastic waist. I can’t find sharp, clever little jackets that are tailored to flatter my curvies. It’s all boxy, plain, elastic waisted polyester garbage designed for Grannies who lost their waist a couple decades ago. So I wander over to the juniors’ section and none of the pants or skirts fit because apparently, juniors do not have hips. And the clothes are age-inappropriate. I can’t be dressing like a 20-year-old tart and maintain my respectability as a 40-year-old professional in an office setting. I come off looking like one of those middle-aged cougars who’s in denial about her actual chronological age. Back to the misses’ department, where all the hemlines are approximately 4" too long and the smallest size is 6. I generally wear a 4 unless I’m at The Gap, where, apparently, I’m a 2. Again, vanity sizing – I was a 6 in high school and I weighed a little less than I do right now. So yeah, I’m not expecting much sympathy for my huge problem of trying to find age-appropriate, professional clothes that fit properly. And I hate What Not To Wear. I challenge Clinton and Stacy to come to my small city and do what they do for $5K without the benefit of all that fabulous shopping in NYC at their disposal. Can they do the same thing at Target, WalMart and Old Navy? Hmmmm? Hrmph. I might also add my other complaint, for which I expect no sympathy: My legs are covered in bruises and my entire body aches from three hours of my pole-dancing class last night. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/93 "2010-06-24T15:39:45Z")
> [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](#): > > I’m in Medical school and although I’m not failing, I really don’t know if it’s what I want to do with my life, so I’m considering doing something else. This reminds me of my own situation. I just got into a fantastic pharmacy school after four years of undergrad work, everyone I know is so proud of me…and yet I have a strong feeling it’s not really what I want to end up doing. I feel I’m just going to waste another four years going to school for something I don’t care about. At the end of it I’ll have a steady job and fantastic pay, which is something that the vast majority of people would like to have, and that I ought to be thankful, etc. But my reaction to the idea of a career in pharmacy is pretty much “meh”. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/94 "2010-06-24T18:54:00Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Add another “tiny woman can’t find clothes” complaint. > > I’m 40 years old, 5’ 2", and weigh 120 lbs. > > I require clothing from the Petite section. My complaint is that, inexplicably, buyers for petite sections in department stores seem to think that petite = granny. I cannot find nice dress pants for work that do not have an elastic waist. I can’t find sharp, clever little jackets that are tailored to flatter my curvies. It’s all boxy, plain, elastic waisted polyester garbage designed for Grannies who lost their waist a couple decades ago. > > So I wander over to the juniors’ section and none of the pants or skirts fit because apparently, juniors do not have hips. And the clothes are age-inappropriate. I can’t be dressing like a 20-year-old tart and maintain my respectability as a 40-year-old professional in an office setting. I come off looking like one of those middle-aged cougars who’s in denial about her actual chronological age. > > Back to the misses’ department, where all the hemlines are approximately 4" too long and the smallest size is 6. I generally wear a 4 unless I’m at The Gap, where, apparently, I’m a 2. Again, vanity sizing – I was a 6 in high school and I weighed a little less than I do right now. > > So yeah, I’m not expecting much sympathy for my huge problem of trying to find age-appropriate, professional clothes that fit properly. And I hate What Not To Wear. I challenge Clinton and Stacy to come to my small city and do what they do for $5K without the benefit of all that fabulous shopping in NYC at their disposal. Can they do the same thing at Target, WalMart and Old Navy? Hmmmm? > > Hrmph. > > I might also add my other complaint, for which I expect no sympathy: My legs are covered in bruises and my entire body aches from three hours of my pole-dancing class last night. 😃 I’m an inch shorter and around twenty pounds lighter, but I don’t think I’ve noticed the granny thing. Have you tried [Banana Republic](http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/division.do?cid=5122)? The Limited? [Ann Taylor](http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/department.jsp?N=1200020&categoryId=3940&loc=TN)? [JC Penney](http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X3.aspx?DeptID=50434&CatID=50450&cmCatLevel=3&CmCatId=EXTERNAL%7C50434)? [Macys](http://www1.macys.com/catalog/index.ognc?CategoryID=18579&kw=Petites&LinkType=EverGreen&PageID=79798627698299)? [Nordstrom](http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/6002273/0%7E2376776%7E2374327%7E6002273?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=leftnav&pbo=2374327&siteId=.i81ZW2Up5c-pIWf5_UmMU5kUkBrv9jXXQ)? If you find something at Target, Old Navy, etc that you do like it isn’t that much for a tailor to fix them up for you. I’m more of a dress girl than pants, but I have seen some really cute pants for petites at the above mentioned places. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/95 "2010-06-24T19:20:59Z")
I think every woman whose figure isn’t exactly 5’5", 130 lbs, the standard B cup, no particular curves to speak of, falling precisely into what clothing manufacturers think every woman’s dimensions are, will have non-complaint complaints like, “I’m too small,” or “I’m too leggy,” or whatever else. My complaint that will not gather any sympathy is I’m too hourglassy. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/96 "2010-06-24T19:30:15Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > I’m an inch shorter and around twenty pounds lighter, but I don’t think I’ve noticed the granny thing. Have you tried [Banana Republic](http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/division.do?cid=5122)? The Limited? [Ann Taylor](http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/department.jsp?N=1200020&categoryId=3940&loc=TN)? [JC Penney](http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X3.aspx?DeptID=50434&CatID=50450&cmCatLevel=3&CmCatId=EXTERNAL%7C50434)? [Macys](http://www1.macys.com/catalog/index.ognc?CategoryID=18579&kw=Petites&LinkType=EverGreen&PageID=79798627698299)? [Nordstrom](http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/6002273/0%7E2376776%7E2374327%7E6002273?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=leftnav&pbo=2374327&siteId=.i81ZW2Up5c-pIWf5_UmMU5kUkBrv9jXXQ)? > > If you find something at Target, Old Navy, etc that you do like it isn’t that much for a tailor to fix them up for you. I’m more of a dress girl than pants, but I have seen some really cute pants for petites at the above mentioned places. I can sew and can alter my own clothes, but I’m busy (pole dancing) and do not want to take the time to trot out the sewing machine, or bother finding a tailor.. JCPenney, Macy’s, and Nordstrom’s never have crap where I live. Especially Macy’s. Dillard’s never has anything either. It all looks so… frumpy and Granny-y. Banana Republic often has a very limited line of office-appropriate stuff, and The Limited has even less. That stuff is a bit casual for me. I end up at Ann Taylor and Talbot’s and other pricey places… which ends up costing me the same as Target + a tailor _if_ I hit the sales. I suppose what I’m _really_ bitching about is that I have to spend more to find well-made clothes that fit. Doesn’t everybody? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/97 "2010-06-24T19:50:26Z")
I see. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/98 "2010-06-24T22:43:31Z")
I came in second place in a poker tournament. I won 65X the entry fee, but I could have won 85X. :mad: Oh, and by the way, I know a non-poker player wouldn’t give a shit, but I know regular poker players won’t give a shit because the entry fee was 10 cents. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/99 "2010-06-24T22:56:53Z")
I’m a 40-year old guy with a similar clothing issue to many of the women posters. I lost a fair amount of weight and got into much better shape over the last few years, so I’ve had to buy all new clothes several times. My waist continues to shrink, so most shirts no longer fit. I am now down to wearing small “athletic” or “trim” fit shirts, everything else fits like a sack on my torso. I’m 5’ 10", 170lbs and in good shape (toned), not skinny. Less than a year ago a “medium” was fine. For stuff like t-shirts it’s not a big deal since they aren’t expensive, but for dress shirts, jackets, outdoors gear and so on it’s a pain. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064/100 "2010-06-24T23:45:04Z")
I’m too sexy for my shirt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-actual-problems-youve-had-that-no-one-will-ever-sympathize-with/542064.md?page=6)