On the other hand, food is pretty much always sold in portions too large for single people, and... I worry vaguely that I'm going to get some flak for this, but there's something so awkward about couples, "families" (i.e. couples with children), and stuff like that. For a single person, I mean. I've found that my friends who end up pairing themselves off stop relating to me in a meaningful way. It turns into "love" > companionship, where by "love" I mean "they started dating a girl a few weeks ago and suddenly they know everything about everything and don't care about me anymore."
I'm sure not all couples do this, but it seems to happen more often than not. One particularly powerful bond annuls others, and there's no longer any meaningful room for friendship. The single person is always showing up into a functioning family unit, with it's own dynamics, and she or he can't really ask to try to pare things down... because that's rude, or, often, comes off "child-hating" or whatever.
I don't like kids.
The reason why I don't like kids is because I feel like there's some sort of obligation that I interact with them. I'm not having children because I'm too much of a loner (and my perfectionist streak would turn out abusive). End of story. I don't like the assumption of responsibility. Interact with a child and suddenly you are The Responsible Adult. I feel like I've done my time, you know? I've had people depending on me, or been in relationships that didn't benefit me, where I felt crushed by liability. I feel really tired, especially because there's some sort of expectation that girl = wants to spend time with children and babies. Hell, I still need taking care of...
I'm kind of prejudiced because when I was a teenager, my parents would never stop staring at the babies and little kids that went by, as I walked behind them. As long as there was a young child around, they didn't pay attention to me. I know it's selfish, but I needed their attention, when they spent so much time arguing and bickering, allowing me to drop off the face of "reality" in favor of their coupledom, almost all of the time that we spend together as a threesome. When both of my parents are in the same place, they usually seem to forget that I exist. They forget to check plans with me or listen to what I have to say... often, they'll bicker for hours while I walk behind them or sit in the back seat of the car, and then of course they have to have Healing Couple Conversations for hours while I continue to be silent; it's only if I'm lucky that they'll solicit my opinion on something. Often, this cycle will go on for multiple days. If there's an argument, I'm expected to just disappear from the face of the earth, so that they can do coupley things and I can keep from inconveniencing them.
Please forgive me, because I am bitter.
And then, people get mad when you don't want to be with their Perfect Child or whatever.
It's kind of like...
Yeah, I don't like being around families or children in general. I'd never use any of those words you outlined. I don't like kids at all, but I wouldn't let the kid know it. But all the same, I really wish there were a balance between kids and adults in a way that there isn't. I don't feel like I can tell or ask someone else's kid to be quiet/calm down/whatever. I arrive on the scene and the child, the family takes power and precedence. As a single person--as an individual, rather--my wants and needs are nullified in favor of the weighted, unified mass of the family, so that in a democratic system there ends up with three like-minded-enough votes against one, if that makes any sense.
And for me, at least, quiet from certain kinds of noises is not a want, but a need. The noises kids tend to make often set off an unbearable sensory overload. It's not simple annoyance. If it were, I would just deal with it.
But the way I feel, in this culture, is that that sort of thing doesn't matter, and what I'm expected to do is either do whatever the family wants or withdraw myself from their presence completely.
And, as far as the not receiving slack from modern society for being a parent:
I think you should receive slack from modern society for being a person, with a person's needs, not necessarily receiving perks based on parenting things. People should be considered as people. As a member of a family, you will have times when you have to take care of the family, but also many times at which the family will save you time. As a single person, there will be many events where I will be spending a hell of a lot more time taking care of things--or so I believe, though I may be wrong--and no slack will be accorded for the drain.
I will probably spend a large portion of the rest of my life depressed, with the accompanying loss of productivity, because I just can't get people and often find myself without enough human contact, but no one is ever going to take that into account. Indeed, I will not be treated like a person. I will simply be told that my problem is that I lack a date.
I'm sorry for this rant. I hope it's comprehensible and inoffensive. I'm... really tired.