LJLucido Since Jan 5, 2000
Here I am now surrounded by friends.
Posted on 06/28/2019 2:39:19 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
“I’m clearly a textbook case of the silent majority of middle-aged men who won’t admit they’re starved for friendship, even if all signs point to the contrary,” wrote Billy Baker in his recent exploration of male loneliness in The Boston Globe.
Perhaps one reason the piece made so many internet rounds is just how many people could relate: Last year Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned that Americans are “facing an epidemic of loneliness and social isolation.”
Though “I’m going to die alone” is the common grumble among single people, scientifically, it’s more like, “I’m going to die if I’m alone.” A lack of social connections can spark inflammation and changes in the immune system, so lonely people are far more likely to die prematurely. Loneliness is more dangerous than obesity, and it’s about as deadly as smoking. The threat is considered so serious that England has created an entire “Campaign to End Loneliness.”
But in a cruel twist, the loneliest among us are set up to get lonelier still. People with few social connections experience brain changes that cause them to be more likely to view human faces as threatening, making it harder for them to bond with others.
To learn more about this conundrum, and how to resolve it, I recently spoke with John Cacioppo, a psychologist at the University of Chicago who wrote a book on loneliness and has researched the phenomenon extensively. An edited transcript of our conversation follows.
(Excerpt) Read more at getpocket.com ...
I ride the bus to work and get off and walk the last three miles to my office. A co-worker suggested I post on our electronic bulletin board to try and find someone who might want to join me. My response was “why?”
“Sometimes I hear the phone ring or vibrate and think, “What now? I don’t owe anyone anything.””
Those are people who want you to owe them, by selling you something.
A few good friends are better than a lot of non-real ones.
People can be alone, that doesn’t mean they are lonely.
Also there are so many potential activities in most places, that if people want to be with others, you can find something to do, instead of being at home alone.
Agreed!
Folks like me sometimes extend that to the entire day. :-)
*or maybe it was "FOR breakfast" or "WITH breakfast."
Post of the day!
“When is that fat, lazy #### gonna get up and feed me and clean my litter?”
I was in kind of a happy mood after very good blood test results today.
This threat KILLED that! :)
Alone At last--The Coon-Sanders Nighthawks
Franklyn Baur's version is completely different but also very beautiful.
Alone At Last--Franklyn Baur
I just can't believe it's true,
Here we are alone, we two.
I have waited all my life, it seems,
To tell my dreams to you!
There was I, waiting all alone,
Wondering why I was all alone.
Wondering when I would find you, dear;
You were here, oh so far though so near!
There we met, and we've never known
What it means, being all alone.
Hold me close, time is flying fast,
Here we are, all alone at last!
Yes, it's true that love is blind.
That's why you were hard to find.
After all, I'm glad I had to wait.
I know my fate was fine.
There we met, and I've never known
What it means, being all alone.
Oh, hold me close, time is flying fast,
Here we are, all alone at last!
That’s usually why cats just silently stare at us.
They cannot believe we haven’t gotten The Memo about what needs doing. “You STILL don’t know? Good Lord! I’ve only lived here for 15 years.”
LOL
My official sign up date is 2004, but my first visit to Free Republic was election night in November 2000.
I think someone on a Yahoo political board mentioned FR as a great source for Gore-Bush recount information and political analysis.
I honestly can't recall if I signed up under a different screen name in 2000 or just lurked for four years.
I was a day trader in those days, and I spent 90% of my time on Financial boards and websites.
I did not get seriously active on political websites until the 2004 reelection campaign.
We have friends and relatives, who have to have a loyal dog to walk and talk to.
There a couple of friends, who have cats which ignore them!
One of our neighbors for 40 years is on her 4th dog. They last about 10 years, and when they pass on. She says she doesn’t want another dog. My wife and I tell her she needs a dog. So she gets another one.
One of my female siblings in her mid 70’s is on her 4th or 5th dog. She and the dogs go every where together and they keep my sibling sane.
One female friend for 50+ years, is a happy divorcee and on her third Siamese cat. She says the cats ignore her unless they are hungry, like her former husband did and are less abusive and smarter.
The dog and cat people travel and shop with their critters and walk and talk with them.
I still prefer to be with my wife and a few friends.
LJLucido Since Jan 5, 2000
Here I am now surrounded by friends.
ROFLMAO!!!
My tax lady has long conversations with her Rumba vacuum cleaner.
Plus they don’t leave little used batteries around the house
I’m sorry
Newman...
5.56mm
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