She was older. Widowed. Has a 22 year old son stuck.at home due to Covid and unable to attend college out of state, yet working his ass off at 2 jobs during his extended downtime. Young but trying...worthy of respect

No dating, no sex, no anticipation of either just a lot in common, having met through a common interest group. Enjoyed the give and take of spirited, intelligent discussion on a wide variety of issue.

Enter the son's 19 yo GF. "Diagnosed" and under treatment for "PTSD". Estranged from her father, kicked out of the house and living with the son and her mother. No car. No driver's license. Didn't finish high school. Relies on the son for transportation. Let go from a series of menial jobs. You can basically stare deep in her eyes and see the back of her head.

Along the way, she's steadily draining the son's life insurance proceeds from his deceased dad as well as a trust fund administered by the son's uncle.

So things rock along normally until the holidays when, with the uncle's consent, I gift the son a copy of The Rational Male.

The day after Christmas, mom calls up in a 5-star ballistic mood. Apparently the uncle passed the book through mom who took some time to read "several" pages and was aghast that I would harbor such such subversive opinions while giving outward appearances of being an "alright" guy.

She promptly announced she never wanted to speak to me again, and I should treat the son the same.

I guess me, the son and the uncle will chat about that at the gun range this coming weekend.