« Hints for White People | Main | Sometimes I'm Not Nice »

April 22, 2002

Trolling the Childfree

The chum monkeys of alt.support.childfree are hooting over this Whatever, in which I admit that since becoming a parent, I find e-mail hoaxes about exploding babies less amusing than I used to. Since this particular Whatever has been loitering unnoticed in the archives for a couple of years, I was curious as to how it came to their attention at all. Turns out one of the childfree folks entered the words "exploding babies" into a Google search (this is apparently something you do when you spend a lot of time in alt.support.childfree), and that Whatever is the first thing that pops up in the search list. There's a Google distinction for you: When you think of exploding babies, think of John Scalzi. Thank you very much.

Anyway, this fellow posted a link to alt.support.childfree, and encouraged people to send me mocking e-mail; of course, I went in and seconded that emotion, since we all know how much I enjoy a good pointless screed in my direction (to get them started, I even called them "smug, self-selecting genetic dead-ends" -- I know they love that sort of thing coming from us breeders). Alas, no e-mails of any sort have been forthcoming, although I note that the alt.support.childfree rabble have been happily trashing my reply in their newsgroup (most of their comments concern a mistyped URL). I actually think this is a positive thing; Like the good little monkeys they are, they only fling their crap in their own cage. Everyone loves a well-trained primate.

James Lileks recently commented on the "childfree" types over on his site; he was far too nice to them. Leaving aside the issue of childless people in general, most of whom are perfectly nice folks, the sort of evolutionary cul-de-sacs who vent about the evils of breeding on alt.support.childfree are exactly the sort of people that I want to see smeared with the rhinovirus-infested mucus of an out-of-control three-year-old at the mall. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to have the lot of them trapped on a cross-country bus trip surrounded by progeny of Jerry Springer viewers, hyperspastic white trash pupae sustained during their journey with squirtguns, noisy toys and enamel-eroding doses of cola and Butterfinger BBs. I snort in delight at the idea of one of these child-despisers owning a malfunctioning Tivo that only records episodes of Dora the Explorer and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The reason for this is simple: Anyone who hates children and a culture that accommodates them that much should be served up the absolute worst that culture can dish out. Eat it up, pal. You asked for it.

Ironically, I'm not at all unsympathetic at much of what the alt.support.childfree types bitch about. Lots of tots are out of control and probably should be taken down with a tranquilizer gun from time to time; lots of clueless parents take kids to places they should not be, and should be beaten for it. It's a perfectly legitimate question to ask what sort of flaming moron takes a two-year-old to a 10:15 showing of Panic Room; it's also perfectly reasonable to expect the parent of a screaming kid at a restaurant to remove the kid until it calms down. These aren't issues of the child-bearing versus the childfree; it's a matter of having a clue about what's minimally appropriate public behavior.

Krissy and I are fortunate that Athena is well-behaved in public more often than not, but we're also fairly sensitive about how much is too much. We don't take her places we wouldn't want to see other people's kids, and when she does act up (and she does; she's three), one of us deals with her before she becomes everyone's problem. It's what you're supposed to do, and parents who don't tend to their children are a legitimate nuisance. If you childless people think you're hard on stupid parents, you should hear the rest of us parents talk about them.

This, however, does not equate with being at all sympathetic to alt.support.childfree posters, or being sympathetic with the sort of contempt they have for parents and kids in general. Again, let us posit that there is a substantial difference between choosing not to have children, as many people do, and actively hating those who do choose to have children, which is how many alt.support.childfree folks function.

People without children, I have no beef with; three of the best teachers I ever had were childless by choice and each of them was the sort of intensely admirable person whose influence was felt far beyond a mere transfer of genetic information. I don't think any of them felt they missed anything by not having children of their own, and they were right about that. They were engaged, they were active, and they were loved by friends, students and colleagues. I don't suspect that most people who choose not to have children resent those who do, and certainly don't resent the children themselves.

People who are childless and hate those who have children (and the children too), I say unto you: Suck it, pal. You whine like crybaby preschoolers told by the teacher to share your toys. This whole "Oh, poor us, we're oppressed by the breeders" line is crap; Like you, I was childless once, and for nearly 30 years. I don't really recall the scrog-poppers going out of their way to oppress me; in fact, I remember more or less getting away with murder. I can't imagine why you're not doing the same. Maybe you're doing it wrong. You must be doing it wrong, since the only other explanation as to why you obsess on how the breeders are screwing you over is that you're sort of virulently dislikable loser who can't feel happy unless you think that society is ramming you up the tailpipe. In any event, you're certainly not superior for not having children. You're merely increasing the odds that you'll eventually die alone.

Which is fine. Anyone who can look at an infant and have oh, great, another drain on resources as their consistent foremost thought deserves to die alone. I mean, I don't find exploding babies very funny any more, but that -- well, that's worth a chuckle or two.

Posted by john at April 22, 2002 05:42 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:

http://www.scalzi.com/mt2/mt-tb.cgi/2859

Post a comment.

to stop spam; if your comment goes into moderation, it may take a couple of hours to be released. Please read this for my comment moderation policies.Trust me, they're there.generally responds to commenters in kind. If you're polite, he'll be polite. If you're a jackass, he'll be a jackass. If you are ignorant, he may correct you.read the comment thread rules.