By Ken Knight
Who doesn’t overtly (or covertly) notice the lives of others around us from time to time in detail enough to “learn” from what is seen or draw conclusions that may influence how we as individuals handle and conduct our own lives? It has been said that this life is a “learning experience” in and of itself, so watching others and learning from them may be a little better than memorizing some text book or listening to a cloistered professor in the halls of Academia (who really doesn’t know shit about how the real world operates).
How much of your adult life-learning has been gleaned from the deeds, wins, losses, and experiences of other around you, and how much have you learned by simply watching and listening, not to mention “game” people around you so as to benefit yourself later on?
On the subject of marriage, an associate of mine I’ll call “Davis” for this article’s sake, likes to remind me how he’s been married twice (and divorced twice) in the past 10 years, that he’s had three big-ass houses in the past 10 years, as well as two successful children and gets women thru online dating sites by lying to them about how much of a “war hero” he is. Nearly ¾ of his gross financial worth has gone to the two divorces and as a six-figure salary man right now he’s tight as a snare drum because of divorce court rulings against him….though he likes to refer to himself among his single and less-financially-ruined buddies as a “p*ssy gettin’ m#therf*cker” because he bangs single moms met on internet dating sites. Good ol’ Davis enjoys reminding MGTOW guys like me that he has kids by saying shit like: “My DNA will go on~blah-blah-blah….” I sit back and look at my friend saying to myself: THAT IS NOT A LIFE I WANT! And I remember the experience of my pal Davis and how he was taken advantage of and unceremoniously dumped-on over just a ten year stretch when he could have avoided it!
As a lifelong bachelor, I have gone through many married friends, and I say “gone through” because after awhile married people eventually stop inviting single friends over and leave them off their rosters for block parties, birthdays, etc. Of all the married couples I have known in the past 20 years or so, I have seen more nasty divorces, infidelities, and stranger stuff such as one guy who enjoyed watching his wife getting hammered by another man (no, I was not one of them! haha) and one guy I was in the Army with indulged the “swinging” lifestyle with his hot wife although that ended when the wife discovered she wanted to be with one of the other swinging husbands full-time!
Other examples are of men I know whose wives take on a “mother” role with them in almost every way except the fact they’re sleeping together, then there is one man I used to work part-time with who knew his wife was cheating on him and did nothing about it, saying it was “cheaper to keep her” (but he was screwing someone on the side himself anyway so he just let it go on for years until they divorced over his gambling problem).
I have also seen numerous friends and co-workers locked up in jail over false assault accusations, child-neglect allegations, and failure to pay child support, their lives ruined in more than one way due to the choice they made in getting married and having a family like one is “expected” to. Seeing the trials, tribulations, failures, and fallacies of other people around us (as well as their triumphs!) has and continues to be a valuable learning experience and I cannot stress how important it can become to remember what you see in other people so that you may avoid making the same damn mistake later on in your own personal life.
As a lifelong bachelor who has no children, I cannot tell you how many married and engaged friends, associates, and family members have chided me over my single lifestyle, and one remark from a “happily” married colleague of mine stands out: “You’re living outside the Shop Window of life, looking in through the glass while the rest of us are inside”. Yes indeed, I see the “life” of most married people I know and they’ve all convinced me that I have not missed out on a damn thing and by doing so, have dodged more than one bullet. Another friend of mine remarked this past Father’s Day weekend to me saying “Happy Bulletproof Day” in reference to me “dodging bullets” of marriage and child-rearing. These days, it is not worth going there unless you’re willing to take an awful risk. Don’t believe me? Just sit back, relax, and watch your friends and neighbors for awhile and you’ll see for yourself. As for “Davis”? Oh he stills considers himself better than me because he has kids and Match.com (looking for wife #3). Since he is trapped inside the “Shop”, I’ll wave at him from outside the window just before I drive off in my new car.
MGTOW: the time has come.
