Today a twenty-something told me that she doesn't plan to have children because of climate change.

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

57. Happily Childfree

I decided I hated children and didn’t want any when I was in junior high and was bullied to the point of suicide by my peers. If children were as evil as them, I wanted no part of it.

Thirty years later, my attitude towards kids has softened and I like hearing my coworkers talk about their kids to me. I adore my nephew, who lives several states away. I just don’t care to bring one home with me permanently.

But junior high is also where I first heard about global warming (mid-80s), and that helped further solidify my decision not to have any of my own.

I do worry about my 8 year old nephew. He’s very interested in space and science, and wants to be an astronaut. Over Christmas I talked to him how hard he’ll have to work towards that goal, and maybe I went a little overboard in making him promise he’ll get to Mars someday. He’s still innocent enough to just see that as a grand adventure rather than as survival, but I think that’ll change as he gets older.