A Friendly, Non-Murdering Recluse

I’m a 61 year-old guy, and something of a recluse. Since the age of 21 or so I’ve almost continuously been in an adult relationship with one woman or another. Amazingly, it's been the same woman, Diana, for 26 years now. Still, I’ve always lived alone, more or less. I have always preferred that living arrangement. When it comes to living  our lives, neither Diana, nor I, are traditionalists. In my younger days, I always made it a point to inform a prospective lady right up front that I was perfectly willing to be in a committed relationship, but I was not going to want to get married and start a family, and I would probably want my own residence. Years ago, those ground rules worked to end a number of relationships, some of them almost before they started. But that was okay. That was why I was upfront about it. I never wanted to lead anyone on. I do not want some sweet, unsuspecting lady to waste her time on me.

I don’t mind being by myself for hours, and even days on end. A coworker’s wife recently had reason to be out of town for a few days. My coworker told me that he missed her being around the house, and couldn’t wait for her return. I’m not quite that way. In fact, I won’t answer the front door simply because someone knocks. If I’m near the door, I’ll look through the peekhole. If I don’t recognize the visitor, I will not open the door.

Ted Kaczynski, perhaps better known as the Unabomber, was an Olympic-level recluse. He lived alone in some backwoods shack and used to go into town only when he needed supplies. I wonder how Ted interacted with people on those rare occasions. Was he polite? Was he a personable guy? Did he joke with strangers? My guess is that Ted was neither polite nor personable. I doubt that he displayed a sense of humor around others.

Sometimes I won’t leave my condo for two straight days and then I’ll decide to go to the grocery store. I’ve been known to jovially unload a shopping cart for an old lady in the parking lot on my way into the store. I will casually banter with store employees and customers while in the store. I enjoy being alone, but I like people too. Maybe I like people as much as I do because I don’t overdose on them. I don’t know, it’s just a theory.

Anyway, the point to all this is; if there’s some old guy living next door, and he keeps to himself, he almost assuredly is not a murderer or child molester. In fact, he might not even be a grouch. Personally, I would assume that he is probably a decent guy.