Our non-qualified, non-professional in-house pseudo psychologist addresses your worst anxieties
This is my final year in high school, and I've decided to declare English Literature with a concentration in Poetry as my major in college. The moment I told my parents and friends about this, they freaked out! They kept asking me why I wasn't interested in I.T or Engineering. Despite me telling them that this is what I really want to do and I have no intentions of changing majors, they keep harping on how I'm going to make no money or find a respectable job. What should I do to deal with this?
PERTURBED POET
Dear PP, There are a lot of poets out there in the world, but for every successful one, you'll find a hundred strugglers. That's why the people around you are “freaked out.” We tend to scoff at money while young, but as we grow older we begin to like its ability to get us nice things. So think about it. But even if you insist on writing odes to nightingales and pink sunsets, it's possible to two-time with a career in a publishing house, for instance, editing the work of thoroughly prosaic people. It could always be verse.
Being 25 years old, it's a common thing for me to get an excited announcement from a friend who is about to get married. However, marriage for me is not at all in the picture, at least for several years due to studies and traveling abroad. All my friends started teasing me for remaining single, but after a while it really got on my nerves. How do I communicate to my friends that they need to respect my lifestyle choices?
BAFFLED BACHELOR
Dear BB, While marriage is certainly not for everyone, we live in a marriage-obsessed country and being "teased" about your choice to remain single is going to be inevitable. But can't you tell them you'll get married in time? After all, 25 is hardly an age to be getting worried about marriage. Tell your friends how you feel about their teasing. They'll probably feel you're making a big deal out of nothing, but you can make up by offering to change diapers for free.
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Keywords: Good Grief column
