I prefer being home

[bevann]

Just got back from an outing to the grocery store and K Mart at a resort beach town 25 miles from home>Been very sick so it was my first time out since Mon at the doctor.so glad to be back home with my critters.As I get older(now 75)I am finding that I much prefer the company of my critters over being with most people.I am quite content being here on the farm,having access to the computer and my cell phone and having my dogs in the house with me.Am I becoming a crazy old recluse lady?Just wondering if others out there feel the same way?When I was out today I observed people oblivious to others when driving and just kind of in their own world, even the women on handicapped scooters in K mart-not even being polite-just running over and into othersThe more I watch people the more I like my animals.

 

[chandab]

I prefer being home, most of the time. I like my outings a few times a month, but otherwise, quite happy to be here on our ranch in the middle of nowhere.

 

[amysue]

I too, prefer being home and so does my husband. Crowded public places make me very agitated and people really get on my nerves. I like outings and enjoy conversation but inconsiderate drivers, rude clerks, crowded aisles, unruly children in public, long lines and people incessantly whacking the back of my ankles with their shopping cart all make me want to stay home. I think the biggest issue for me is that my husband does not have a lot of patience for rude people and he hates crowds and waiting in traffic. So if he takes me out somewhere and we are stuck in traffic or some place is crowded, he gets very agitated...to the point where I don't want to be there any more so we do not go out a lot other than to shop. We visit at friends places a lot and have people over. I do really prefer the company of my animals over many people, so no, you most definitely are not alone.

 

[Barnmother]

We live in a small town on ten acres. I do go to work every day and I love my job and my work family. I do not like it when we have to make necessary trips into the BIG city for some supplies. I much prefer to do my shopping on the internet and wait for UPS to bring it to me. You are right things have changed from when we were raised. People are incredibly rude, always in a big rush and they way they drive, well guess they found their licenses in the Sears and Roebuck catalog. Like you I will stay home with my animals and family and computer and phone!

 

[Rocklone Miniature Horses]

I'm 27 and that has been my prefered life since i was about 13 lol

 

[AnnaC]

Oh I do so agree with all of you! Now in my 70's I am also becoming reclusive I feel - much as I love seeing family and friends, I have to admit to breathing a huge sigh of relief when they all depart and peace is resumed. As to what one encounters when one is forced to take a trip away from the farm into the "outside world", well ........................... no comment!!

 

Couldn't agree more. I still have to work for a living everyday -- in real estate --but really prefer time with family or by myself. Shop only when I must, only travel to see kids and grandchildren and love my solitude at home or out in the quiet with my animals.

 

[Sonya]

I despise shopping or having to go to town...going to a mall, forget it, it's an hour away and I can't stand it. I do like to boat, camp, fish, hunt, buggy and snowmobile ride though, I don't like to sit in the house. Would rather be outside. Although I complain about my crappy days off (Tues/Wed), it does allow me to do those activities without seeing a soul usually, which is how I like it.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Just returned from the TX state button show in Frisco, which is a suburb of Dallas. O dear! Traffic, construction, housing additions and shopping centers all looking the same--I cannot imagine why anyone would choose to live in such conditions. Cameras taking your picture at every movement. High cost of living. We have lived in cities before: Houston, OKC, ABQ. We think rural southwest OK is the best place to be. I'll take the limited gourmet items in the grocery store, the limited restaurants, and having to order by mail any day over that frantic rat race. We have our own local artists, museums, our own Playhouse, our own civic clubs.

Enjoyed playing buttons, but very glad to be home with our animals and rural peace. Our children/grandchildren live in a metroplex and that is probably one reason we don't visit them more often...

 

[Miniv]

Totally understand.......Hate going shopping, especially large stores with lots of people. I get agitated and crabby. I'm not very nice in crowds.

MUCH prefer to stay home with the animals.......many of the chores needing to be done are very soothing.

 

[vickie gee]

Have to agree with you guys. People get on my nerves

. Trying to shop for groceries without getting irritated at people who don't even know they are irritating and rude is a challenge. A good day is when you luck out and encounter polite shoppers and professional workers. I hate it when I have to walk through a cloud of someone's cigarette smoke to get in or out of a store. Seems the dollar store is the worst.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Ill agree with you all. I cant remember the last time I went shopping apart from to buy food for myself and the horses.

I shop for everything else online these days.

A) Who has time to go shopping when you own horses ?

B) Cant stand the ferals that seem to frequent hanging out the front of shopping centres..............

 

[supaspot]

Im in my mid fifties and only leave the farm to go food shopping or to show my minis , I don't enjoy goinng out with non mini friends at all and one of the reasons I enjoy social media is because I can turn it off instantly if I want to

 

[Shari]

Hate having to go shopping too. People are too grumpy in this area.... you smile at them.. and more often than not, they give you a dirty look.

When I can, I like shopping on the military bases,,, friendly people there, they have manners and smile a lot. Also what I miss about the Pacific NW.

Now, I do like going down to Colonial Williamsburg,,, lots of nice folks down there,,, but its and hour and a half away, so I don't get to go down there as often as I wish I could.

 

[Bess Kelly]

I'm there with you all! Many of the same reasons. I am 69 and still have 30 retired minis......hoping I outlive them all, LOL, as I promised them a retirement for their past contributions to my own farm dreams! We are all becoming slower seniors together.

Bevann I remember when we used to see one another at shows (Bootstrap Manor) -- early to mid 90's -- and we were all "happy campers". So I feel that some of our concerns develop with age, it's problems and tolerances. Certainly my patience is not what it once was (I temper that with the past 4 yrs of caring for my own mother with altzhimers) and I never did like to drive in heavy traffic. I visit a mall so rarely that I actually become overwhelmed at the size of them! Geesh, my favorite stores are TSC, Lowe's and some local feed stores. I look at my closet and say "you need to buy some things" and put it off just because of the shopping trip. People are not raised the way we were in the past. "Families" don't exist in the same context as years past, now it is mostly biological rather than emotional. And it seems that some years ago everyone began being born with a phone implanted -- I'm tired of walking through a store and everyone is talking "into the air". Yes, I have a cell phone but for convenience...no blutoothy thing.

While I do some PT work, it is flexible timing, limited locations and totally solitary work. Helps pay those rascally feed bills.

Like most of us elders on here, I lean toward some self-sufficiency which can be rewarding (emotionally & financially). I've said this before but, it would be nice if there were a community where people of like thoughts could live close enough to help one another when needed. I know we would enjoy one another's occasional company. Alas, we do get some "company" right here!

Otherwise, I enjoy my farm and am not unhappy at being only person theree -- EXCEPT when I need help with some type of work that I can't accomplish without a human. OK, sometimes I can get my son or daughter to help, depends on the chore.....sure some of you can relate to that, also.

 

[bevann]

Nice to see you on here,Bess.I do remember you and coming to your farm for a Mini horse meeting many years ago.I am a senior also-going on 76 and have 3 senior Minis here.26-24&23 some with health issues. I can really relate to the phone thing.I have a dumb phone -a very old flip phone because I want something that fits in my pocket and has a cover since who knows what ends up in that pocket with the phone when I am in the barn.I am also concerned about the dependency on electronic devices.what happens when they crash?and they will eventually.I have been to the bank to make a cash deposit(sorry our computers are down-we can't take your money)GPS devices are fine, but give me a road map any day.I have a friend who was going somewhere and couldn't get the GPS to give directions because she was not spelling the destination correctly. I am concerned that too much dependency on electronic devices will destroy common sense and problem solving abilities.I like progress but think it needs to be tempered so we don't lose our abilities to function.I do believe that those of us who live on farms are better equiped than many city dwellers to function if things go wrong.Just ask someone who has every used baler twin and duct tape for anything.

 

[chandab]

GPS is not the best thing to use for directions around here, it really plays havoc with Schwan's drivers... Put one in a cow field and another in a 4' snow bank on a seasonal road that shouldn't even be on a map.