never really been fiscally stable enough to do it nor have i ever been involved with someone i could imagine taking on that sort of responsibility with. ive met more people trying to co-parent with a shithead than partners or co-parents making it work.

i also took parents at their word about how difficult it is, and that made me more circumspect about evaluating a prospective partner. i have some friends that had kids and all they have to say is how hard it is and how they didn’t believe others who went before, when they said the same. kinda lame to think everybody else is just another candyass complainer.

so besides climate change and social collapse, really when i evaluate what i have to contribute to the future of the whole “humans on earth” experiment, my genetics are like not even in the top 10. i always get confused with other people anyway, so the traits are well represented in the population.

half my grandparents were dead before i was born, the other half died not long after. all from natural causes. ive been an educator and like working with kids and young people / teaching. i can steward natural resources to try and make sure there’s something left for a family to survive. im cool with that.

maybe if i grew up in a real country that didn’t actively try to convert humans into grist for the mill, it would have shaken out some other way, but I’m comfortable with my choices in this context and don’t weep for the lost futures of alternative histories.

except the Union of Soviets.