Check Your Demographic at the Door

On Friday afternoon, I had to complete some career planning forms with my supervisor. One of the items to provide information for is relocation contingencies. Parameters on my move could have been based on 1) Having a spouse, 2) Having children, or 3) Having a spouse and children.

I have none of these. Yet there was no box for me to check. In order to move on through the software, I had to check that any relocation is affecting my theoretical spouse. Whatever happened to consideration for the singles? I want my box that says I will move whereever I please, not having to consider husbands and children, seeking only a place that offers more money, more fun, more life satisfaction opportunities! I want a box that says I'm holding out for something spectacular and was willing to wait rather than just do what should logically come next.

Go to college. Get a job. Get married. Have children.... What happened to the adventure? What happened to it being okay to be alone for a while and learn how to live with one's self and only one's self? And is there ever really a logical order for anything? There's no set way to do things, right? Why the stigma of being alone?

But I never really came up with any good answers for this as I just checked the box for the theoretical spouse and moved along, knowing that it was more pragmatism and less wishful thinking. I need to get promoted to something else. Maybe then I can start having an actual rather than theoretical life.