Over the past few weeks, I’ve been corresponding via phone and e-mail with a reporter from out west, who is writing a book about women who make the decision not to marry. In our last conversation she was talking about how married people pressure unmarried couples to wed. Then parents pressure non-parents to procreate. She asked why I thought that was.

I said I thought happy people just want to share their own brand of happiness. I can’t stand fish, but for some reason, most people who eat fish in my presence will always insist on my trying it (”no, but this one is so good“). For this reason, I often make up the excuse of being allergic. In recent years I’ve almost completely abandoned this silly tactic, and as a result have resumed being pressured into eating the occasional sushi roll. Ew.

In an e-mail she sent a follow up question: do you have a similar excuse to justify being single? I’ve been thinking about this for a few days. What would be the fish allergy equivalent of not pairing up? Well, when I don’t feel like launching into my whole self-righteous “why do I need to justify it” speech, I say I’m concentrating on my career. It’s not as final and solid as a fish allergy, but it’s certainly as lame, isn’t it?