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2017ish · 10-15-2015, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

Again, why is it that people automatically assume that a 50-year-old virgin has to be a male? Do they presume that women are more sexually active or driven than men? I don't get it.

It is weird. Maybe just because of the movie that focused on a male as the "~~fifty~~ forty-year-old virgin"? If, like me, that title stuck in your head, especially with the wrong age, it would be an easy leap.

haha · 10-15-2015, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

Again, why is it that people automatically assume that a 50-year-old virgin has to be a male? Do they presume that women are more sexually active or driven than men? I don't get it.

No. I think the assumption is that some men may be weird enough that they could never get a woman to go to bed with them. However there is no such creature as a woman that some guy won't take to bed.

Ha

ER Eddie · 10-15-2015, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound

Again, why is it that people automatically assume that a 50-year-old virgin has to be a male? Do they presume that women are more sexually active or driven than men? I don't get it.

I didn't think it "had to" be male; it was just a guess based on the tone of the letter. I probably inferred it because he/she said that his friends teased him about being a virgin. That's more of a guy thing -- teasing each other about being a virgin. That sounds more like a man's phrasing, too. It could be a woman, though, I suppose.

razztazz · 10-16-2015, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSMAN

Wow! I need to update my retirement budget to include "counseling". This was in yesterday's Houston Chronicle. Kind of interesting that people view early retirees as lacking motivation. I thinks it's the inverse. We were motivated all our working lives to live below our means and save in order to retire early. I still plan to contribute to society when I retire next year at 56. Maybe new friends are in order for "Out of Work in Texas".

DEAR ABBY: I am 50, own my home and am debt-free. I have friends but have never dated anyone. This doesn't bother me, although many of my close friends joke with me about being a "50-year-old virgin."
My problem is, four years ago I lost my job. I have a few investments and a small inheritance that, when combined, give me an income of $60,000 a year. So I don't need more money.
Although I did look for another job for two years, I haven't tried for the past two. I tell my friends I've decided to retire. They keep telling me I need to find a job because I need something to keep me busy. I remind them that I have enough money for everything I need.
Friends have started telling me I may have a "problem" and should think about counseling. I see no need for it, but have decided to get an outside opinion. So, Abby, should I see a counselor about my lack of interest in finding a new job? -- OUT OF WORK IN TEXAS

DEAR OUT OF WORK: There are reasons people work besides the financial one. Social stimulation is important, too. I am glad you have the money to support yourself now, but what if something unplanned or catastrophic happens in the future that jeopardizes your nest egg?
Fifty is young to "retire." The counseling you're considering should be used to determine why you lack the motivation to continue being a contributing member of society. (This may be the "problem" your friends are hinting at.)

Quote:

Social stimulation is important, too.

Glittering generality and assertion without basis. It was the social stimulation associated with work that made me want to quit

Quote:

The counseling you're considering should be used to determine why you lack the motivation to continue being a contributing member of society

This one always kills me. "Contributing." The Rich always seem to be unencumbered by this faked-up need to "contribute". They do what they want simply because they can. Nobody can forced them to contribute because they do not need to swap for money. "Need to contribute" is a soft way of telling people they should continue to have work extorted out of them. If they do not comply they need "counselling."

Which Roger · 10-16-2015, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GSMAN

Although I did look for another job for two years, I haven't tried for the past two. I tell my friends I've decided to retire. They keep telling me I need to find a job because I need something to keep me busy.

I'll play Devil's Advocate. This snippet from the letter makes it sound like the writer was not mentally ready to retire, wanted to get a job, but then just kind of gave up, and now considers him/herself retired, but doesn't really seem too excited about the retirement. He/she could indeed be lost and passing the days sitting in front of the TV with little motivation do make anything out of the retirement.

If any of us had written this letter, it would have sounded much different, with a much more positive tone about the choice to ER. So the writer is different than us, and maybe needs some tough love from Abbey.