Imagine growing up being told things would go one way ... and then they don't, and -- as such -- there's zero preparation. Not even H.

I've mentioned a few things over slightly fewer months. I really do need to write a book about my life, because it's apparently somewhere around the 95th percentile on how people go. International choir trips as a kid, the semester as an exchange student, forcing your way into a college without legacy options, then seizing control of the opinion section at the school paper when journalism wasn't even the goal.

I expected the same opportunities my parents had. I think we all did in the '80s -- "fuck you, I got mine, and now you need to support me" wasn't yet clear.

Not being clear is nonetheless formative.

I just wanted the same opportunities. That wasn't to be. My folks didn't do cocaine, but it was rather popular in some circles.

My career has been a heavy lift in which I've been told I'm wrong to believe I shouldn't lose purchasing power every year. Sorry, but I'm (barely) Gen X. I could bike out for the day, and were I not home by dinner, the friend who I ended up with would have his mom call my folks; a sleepover generally ensued.

What we've turned into is this metastasized unrecognized mass. Helicopter parenting, people thinking they can order partners off a menu. That may be normal to you, but it's recent.

I usually date women who aren't into men -- because we're, in general, assholes. I don't exclude myself. But straight women generally want assholes [citation needed] and to act, well, like compliant women. Where's the fun in that? If you aren't my equal, why are we dating?

Sorry, I was watching a YouTube video where all sense was thrown out the window, and I can't stand by and call any of this OK. You have every right to be barefoot and pregnant. You also have every right -- for now -- not to choose to do so.