"Do you have siblings?" — the ghost of my unborn kins
This dreadful question has haunted every social interaction I had. I am not a bad person for being an only child.
Who knows if it was a conscious decision? Maybe it was destiny. It does not matter whose "fault" it was. The facts are: I am an only child and I have been shamed for it my whole life.
Early on, it used to make me angry. I could not understand why people were so quick to point out how "awful" my life would be just because of a lack of a sibling.
Later, I felt lonely and judged. Yes, I would never experience the love and connection many families have. But they would also never understand the journey of growing up alone. And yes, it can be a hell of a fun one!
Hide & Seek: a chasing game
Throughout my 26 years of life so far, I have dreaded the first interactions with a new acquaintance. It is a matter of time, but eventually, the question will be posed: “Do you have siblings?”.
To defeat my social enemy, I developed strategies. This is a list of (non-exhaustive) actions I tried to avoid the monster:
- Smile and nod;
- Ask to repeat the question 10x. They tend to give up;
