Lost Sunglasses Ridge & Other Saturday Texas Miscellania Like Whataburger

You are looking north at what I call Lost Sunglasses Ridge. So named because this is the location, on the Tandy Hills, where I managed to lose my sunglasses on Easter Sunday. And found them again, a month later, hiding in plain sight.

I was on the Tandy Hills late today, for an hour and a half. I don't know how many gallons of liquid I lost, but it was substantial. I'd agreed to ferry someone to a nearby location, with me doing my salubrious hiking and then picking up the aforementioned person at the nearby location.

Well, the pickup call came later than I'd anticipated. That's okay. I'm in endorphin bliss so nothing makes me cranky.

Change of subject.

There are currently over 2,500 postings on this blog. All those postings are indexed by Google. Consequently I can get comments to a blogging I wrote over 2 years ago.

This can be a bit confusing.

One of the subjects I've blogged about that has generated a lot of comments, is various bloggings about Only Child Syndrome. I was surprised to see yesterday that one of those OCS bloggings has over 60 comments.

For awhile Google had me the #1 Only Child Syndrome expert in the world. I have not checked it in awhile. But, I know I'm no longer the go to guy for people trying to figure out what the deal is with Only Children.

Today I got 2 comments to a blogging I wrote way back in January of 2009 regarding Whataburger and what a travesty of a burger joint it is. You can click the link and read the comments from today. One from the mother of a 16 year old son who is currently being a Whataburger victim. And another from a disgruntled Whataburger customer who is running a What a Boycott of Whataburger.

I have never set foot in a Whataburger. The tacky looking orange striped buildings are enough to offput me. I have no idea if Whataburger is a Texas only franchise or if it spreads its particular brand of badness throughout the South.

I fear Texas may regulate its burger industry with the same attention to detail and quality and customer/citizen well-being as Texas regulates the oil and gas industry.

Elsie Hotpepper has gone missing again. The last I heard from Elsie was on Friday when she asked if I would make a TRV website. I don't know what TRV means, for sure. T.errribly R.ude V.illains? T.he R.evolutionary V.anguard? I don't know.

And then there's the Queen of Wink, who also has sort of gone missing. But I actually know why the Queen's gone missing. This weekend is the annual Roy Orbison Festival in Wink.

I tell you, of all these things worrying me, missing people, getting stranded on HOT hills, bad Whataburgers, I forget what else, the thing that troubles me more than anything is poor ol' Betty Jo Bouvier's once more ruining her hair in a blaze of fire.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I anticipate a day of rest. With a Father's Day call to my dear ol' dad.

Fort Worth's Tandy Hills Are Back Alive With The Sound Of Hiking & Doves Mating

I'm having me a good good day, what a feeling, I'm living my favorite Blackeyed Peas song.

It is almost 70. The windows are open. I'm wearing nothing but the clothes I came into this world in. I think we really have finally left that nasty Winter business behind us and Texas is returning to the Texas I have grown to slightly sort of like. Weather-wise.

This morning, about 10, I saw a sure sign of Spring, right on the window sill outside my computer room. A dove was cooing. Then another dove arrived. Soon there was more cooing. I got out my camera. I moved slow so as not to spook the pair of lovebirds, and zoomed in.

The doves definitely were lovebirds, because it was obvious they were on my window sill to do that thing that married doves do to make little dove babies. This did not take too long. And then they were on their way. Because this is a PG-Rated blog I'm only showing you a PG-Rated picture of what was happening on my window sill this morning.

On a totally different subject, long ago I blogged, several times, about Only Child Syndrome, after I had a harrowing experience with one of the worst of the breed. Yesterday Steve Doeung asked me if the recent comment fest on my blog, over a controversial Wink Sinkhole, was the most out of control my blog comments have ever gotten. I forgot about the comments to the Only Child Syndrome bloggings.

Today I got an Only Child Syndrome comment from Ryan, a really long one, telling me about his personal bad experience with a person with a bad case of OCS. I commented on Ryan's comment and then Ryan commented on my comment, telling me he'd sent the link, to my blogging about OCS to the ex-girlfriend OCSer, and that I might be getting some comments. I sense another awesome blog comment flurry coming on.

Now, changing subjects again. Back to me. So, this morning was the warmest morning in awhile. I was in the pool before 7. I stayed in the water the longest of the new year. Maybe 10 minutes, before I began to fear for my extremities.

Today I decided we'd had enough semi-warm, windy days that the Tandy Hills should be dried out enough for an inspection. I was right. I think it's been well over a month since I've been on the hills. I think the absence of this extremely salubrious activity is what is behind my unexplained weight gain that has turned me into a bloated version of my former svelte self.

In the picture you are looking at a section of the Tandy Hills where the Brush Bashers have removed all non-native growth. This really improves the look of the place. I was impressed.

A lot of bags full of trash await removal, the effort to do so thwarted by our unseemly bad weather.

On a totally unrelated note, but still about me, I'm feeling a little guilty about walking the Queen of Wink all over town yesterday. I learned this morning that she woke up to aching feet. I knew, when we had to take our clothes off to get through the Tarrant County Courthouse security, that the Queen was in extremely high heels.

But, by the time we were doing a lot of fast walking at the Stockyards I'd forgotten this, til I mentioned we were at the spot where I'd seen Hillary Clinton navigating a rough surface in high heels. This was when the Queen told me she has been compared to Hillary. I can see the comparison. Strong women with blonde hair who both wear high heels while walking the Stockyards.

I asked about the why of the uncomfortable heels. The need for a Queen to be as tall as possible was the reason. I tried walking taller for a bit, by lifting my heels off the ground, all it did was hurt my calf muscles, but I sure was taller than the Queen of Wink.

Tomorrow will be in the 70s. I'll be back hill hiking. It's addictive. I've had withdrawal symptoms.

I forgot to mention, Tootsie Tonasket called this morning. The Okanogan sheriff, game warden and police raided Tootsie's house again, in search of evidence regarding a deer killing. I can't believe this is happening in my formerly sane state of Washington. Then again, this is taking place in Eastern Washington, a more kook prone location, that extends well into Idaho.

Only Child Syndrome Strikes Again

I think I've mentioned before that a blogging I wrote a long long time ago about Only Child Syndrome has generated more comments, I think, that anything other thing I've blogged about.

The comments can be pretty funny. I get ones totally agreeing with my take on Only Children. And others, from Only Children, who confirm the Syndrome at the same time they are angrily denying it.

Last week I saw from my Blog Stats that a lot of people were coming to the blogging about Only Child Syndrome from something called YELP. I went to YELP and found it was a forum type thing where someone named Brandy had posted the link to my blogging about Only Child Syndrome and said, "Interesting article. What are your thoughts? True? False?"

Well, Brandy's question got a lot of replies. Some of it reminds me of how bent out of shape some Scarborough Faire nutjobs got over my take on their Renaissance Festival.

This morning the Only Child Syndrome thing was back fresh in my mind due to a comment from Jan, who said...

"I've read the OCS blogs with alot of interest. Unfortunately, I have an only child, age 28 and when I read this she jumped off the page. You have nailed her perfectly. There is not one single description that does not fit my only child. Unfortunately, she has cut me and all of her aunts out of her life. very sad, but this was extremely interesting."

So, one more believer in OCS.

I'd not read the blog of one of my own personal worst cases of OCS in awhile. Recently she blogged about some new friends, saying one of them, let's call her Margie, "really gets me." That somehow struck me as funny and so stereotypically only childish. The Only Child is so special, so unique, so one of a kind, that it takes someone with special powers of observation to appreciate all that is so special about the Only Child. The particular Only Child in question has used this "really gets me" verbiage on a number of occasions. I have heard it with my own ears, in addition to reading it. In person the tone sounds sort of conspiratorial, as if I, the listener, am also privy to really getting what is so special about the Only Child.

Okay, that's enough about Only Child Syndrome for today.

Only Child Syndrome

That's a German cartoon. The German on the right is saying, "He's an only child, isn't he?" To which the one on the left says, "He is now!"

The Only Children I've known have all pretty much matched the cliches about children who had no siblings. Spoiled, bratty, self-centered, selfish, an odd sense of entitlement, difficult to get along with plus a tendency to say inappropriate things that are rude and ill-mannered. Yet being extremely hyper-sensitive and brittle about even the most remotely critical remark going in their direction.

In other words, Only Children give themselves the permission to act, without expecting a consequence, in ways that when others act in a similar way to the Only Child, the Only Child becomes irrationally upset and reactive. It is a very odd spectacle to witness.

I knew an Only Child here in Fort Worth who was probably the worst of the breed I've encountered. Driving onto a museum's parking lot she told me a space would open up, because it always does. And sure enough, a car pulled out and we parked right by the entry. To which she said, "see, it always happens." Thus having her odd sense of specialness once more reinforced.

This Fort Worth Only Child was a married, recovered drug addict. She went to one of those Betty Ford Clinic type places somewhere in the Austin zone. When she completed the program there was some sort of graduation ceremony. One day she told me she was mad at her husband because he forgot her drug treatment graduation ceremony anniversary. Only Children expect every little thing to be made a big deal of. While at the same time they make absolutely no attempt at any sort of reciprocity.

I've never known an Only Child who does not expect a huge deal to be made over their birthdays. It's like they expect a day of worship. It's kind of creepy.

The Wikipedia article about Only Child Syndrome was on both sides of this issue, with some saying the Syndrome does not exist and others insisting it does. I'm on the side of those who know it exists.

I don't know who G. Stanley Hall* is, but in the Wikipedia article it said this, "G. Stanley Hall was one of the first experts to give only children a bad reputation when he referred to their situation as "a disease in itself." (*I looked up G. Stanley Hall, he was a pioneering American psychologist.)

Googling "Only Child Syndrome" I found several blogs written by Only Children, basically admitting they are different and another blog blogging about the Syndrome with several Only Children commenting on the blog and ironically and cluelessly confirming the Syndrome with their comments.

Below is an excerpt from the Blog written by an Only Child...

We have the tendency to cut people out of our lives—entire groups of people even—without a sense of remorse or grief. We draw a line in the sandbox, this is mine, this yours. But our sense of justice is clear and unrelenting—the world falls into right and wrong easily for most of us. The sandbox, then, is pretty symmetrically divided. We do this because we’re only children, and solitude is our foundation.

I know several only children—we kind of attract each other. We’re the honey and the flies. We don’t need anybody else damnit.

Okay, that’s wrong. We DO, we DO need other people. We need friends and love and all that jazz, but we prefer to outweigh socializing with solitude. Sorry, no offense, we just can’t help it. We NEED the intense me-time in order to be able to deal with you because frankly, dealing with you is annoying. You have needs and wants and demand compromise and you can’t read our minds, which means we have to communicate our own thoughts and feelings. The whole interaction gets overly complicated and we tend, then, to run off and hide, or to mentally check out, or to pick a fight just so we can have things OUR way. Then you get hoity toity and turn your nose at us accusing, “Only child syndrome!”

As God is my witness. No more Only Children shall cross my radar screen. If I can help it.

DECEMBER 17 I BLOGGED AGAIN ABOUT ONLY CHILD SYNDROME

Is Only Child Syndrome A Terrible Disease?

I've heard from another Only Child. This ones name is Drew. Drew is doing research into Only Child Syndrome. I think I've mentioned before that I've managed to become, inadvertently, one of the world's experts on this subject.

Drew seemed quite upset at what some people had to say about the syndrome. And just like other Only Children who have commented, Drew demonstrates the syndrome right in his comment.

Here is the Internet's Urban Dictionary's definition...

Only Child Syndrome

A terrible disease that typically effects only-children, but can occasionally strike people with siblings. It may also effect children whose parents divorce.

Symptoms include: playing mind games with members of the opposite sex, a crippling desire for instant gratification, the inability to compromise or share, and a total disregard for anyone's thoughts or feelings but their own.

Below is Drew's comment about one of the bloggings about Only Child Syndrome...

ok im doing research on overcoming part of my only child syndrome...sure we have issues....some of us more than others.....but everyone else has issues as well.....im trying to make myself a better person and understand why i do some of the things i do.....to be honest, i am taken aback by the amount of bias and criticism some of the people here have to say..... to make a statement saying that people who have noticed the symptoms of being an only child are angry and not articulate is silly, dont you think? ....this world has no absolute truths.....honestly that may be one of the most ridiculous stereotypes ive ever heard....nobody is perfect.....everyone has their issues......not every only child is like that....

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned & Only Child Syndrome

I think I may be dealing with a mild case of Hell Hath No Fury Syndrome. I hate it when that happens.

And, speaking of syndromes, in the past year I've blogged several times about Only Child Syndrome. I think the OCS Bloggings get more comments than anything else I blog about. My Bloggings about Only Child Syndrome Google in the #1 or 2 position, which causes some to think I'm the world's go to guy for info about OCS. Or to deny the syndrome exists.

This morning I got the best Only Child Syndrome comment yet. As so many of my interesting comments are, this one is from the ubiquitous Anonymous, he/she being my most frequent commenter. The OCS deniers are almost universally quite angry, sanctimonious and self-righteous. I suspect the OCS deniers are Only Children cluelessly exhibiting the syndrome.

Below is the comment from Anonymous....

One thing I can add is that only children tend to be HUGE users of Facebook. I know one only child (a woman in her 40s) whose Facebook page is an avalanche of narcissism and an endless celebration of her specialness and awesomeness. And of course, Facebook allows her to make a big, big deal about her birthday. I don't display my birthdate on my FB page, and she acts like I'm some kind of sociopath because I don't want my birthday celebrated.

This same only child is also notorious for her weirdly manipulative gift-giving. She loves to give people odd, random gifts and then stands there, waiting eagerly for a flood of gratitude. Talking to her is agonizing because she constantly tries to one-up everything you say. And she takes EVERYTHING personally -- if the earth crashed into the sun, she'd think it had something to do with her.

Another only-child friend has a huge birthday party every year, and gets really angry if anyone skips it. At the last party, when she realized someone wasn't there, she flew into a rage and grabbed the phone, intending to call the party-skipper and chew her out. Everyone was squirming with embarrassment. This, incidentally, is a woman in her 50s.

What amuses me the most is that the most fervent debunkers of only child syndrome are the only children themselves. "I'm an only child, and I turned out GREAT! I'm beautiful, and brilliant, and awesome, and ... hey, where are you going? I haven't finished telling you about me!"

The Humid Search For A New Big Subject In Texas

Up very early, in the pool, again, right as dawn was doing its cracking. We're being extremely humid. It is only 80 out there, right now, at a quarter before 9, but the 74% humidity is making for a Heat Index of 85. The predicted high is 101 today. Maybe some of this humidity will burn off.

Looking at the stats, this morning, of this very blog, I was pleased to see a big drop in the number of people, all over the world, seeking to see the biggest version in the world of the thing depicted in the picture. I mentioned a week or two ago that I'd finally wised up and realized I'd made a mistake in blogging about that certain, specific subject.

When I cease blogging about that subject and my search for it, the blog drops lower and lower in Google searches. After awhile, the number of searchers, looking for that big object, being directed to my blog, should diminish to none.

I have not blogged about Only Child Syndrome of late. I see fewer people coming to this blog looking for relief from that problem. Maybe I am no longer the world's go to guy for info about that subject. I'll go see. I'll be right back....

Well, I'm still the world's #1 go to guy, at least at this moment, in a Google search looking for relief in dealing with Only Child Syndrome.

I don't mind being the world's go to guy on the Only Child Syndrome subject, It seems less unseemly than being the go to guy in a search for the biggest of a particular body part.

What seems to have replaced the search for the big thing is the search for a cure for cancer by eating a lot of asparagus. That seems a much more elevated thing to be providing information about than that other subject, the specific words of which, I no longer type.

Today is Wednesday, which means I'm heading north a bit before noon, heading to Southlake and likely Sprouts Farmers Market. There is another market I need to check out called the "Town Talk" store. It is located at the intersection of Beach Street and Randol Mill Road.

Gluteus Maximus Only Child Syndrome Ukrainians

Well. I have had me a day. In addition to our first one over the 100 mark, I've been extra HOT for other reasons.

One reason is the past couple days I finally wised up and realized I'd done a dumb dumb thing by blogging repeatedly about the search for the World's Biggest Gluteus Maximus. (I am not using the more common term I used before, the one that starts with a 'b' and ends with a 't'.)

When I wrote about that subject, repeatedly, after seeing the biggest one I'd ever seen, making it's way through Wal-Mart, little did I know that all over the world there are people searching for the world's biggest GM.

I thought it was all in good fun, me and my search, til that search, by all those people, all over the world, overwhelmed my blog. As in, at times 75% of the blog visitors are looking for that one thing. This would be fine with me. Except, understandably, the ads that that subject generates are pathetic. So, no more mention of the search for that particular ultra big thing, by me.

And then there is Only Child Syndrome. I'd blogged a lot about that subject after being traumatized by one of the worst of the breed last summer in Tacoma. I got a lot of my info from the Wikipedia article about the subject, then put my own spin on it. I was appalled to soon see my Only Child Syndrome stuff Googling #1, ahead of Wikipedia, making me, in the eyes of those OCS sufferers looking for relief, the World's #1 Only Child Syndrome expert.

I was pleased today, when I Googled "Only Child Syndrome" to see that Wikipedia is back in the #1 spot. That might not last for long, with me blogging about the subject again. I'll keep it to a minimum. At least the OCS ads are good, so I don't mind this one, like I did the biggest gluteals one.

And then there is today's Ukrainian encounter. I had not looked at my webstats in awhile. I was led to do so today when I saw the new version of Google's Webmaster Tools, in which there was a long list of search strings that bring up my webstuff at a high position. I randomly knew of some that were #1, but I had no idea how many there were. This was new information. I was sort of pleased.

So then I went to look at my website stats. I had not done this in months. They generate a lot of info. Mostly useless to me. There is a section where I get a list of websites with external links to mine. This is always interesting. Sometimes I'll find someone hotlinking to one of my pictures. I then replace it with something embarrassing and see how long it takes them to discover it.

Today on the list of links from an external page there were about 30 like the following:

http://woxifedaqiiqadefixow.durangotexas.com/

Okay, that is my domain, with a lot of gibberish in front of it. This gibberish followed by a period is known as a sub-domain. When I clicked on that link it brought up my website, only via that sub-domain, that does not exist.

This freaked me out. I thought someone had hacked my website. The potential for disaster was huge. Or so I thought.

I went to my webhost and logged in to do a live chat. I hate live chats. With my webhost their live chat center is in the Ukraine. If I'm lucky I get someone who's English is not too fractured.

Today I got Evenka. Her English was not badly fractured. After a few confusions she understood the problem. She told me that any line of gibberish, pointing to a non-existent sub-domain will bring up the referenced URL. I made up one and she was right.

I asked who was doing this and why? Evenka told me it was not human, it was search bots doing their thing. She said I had nothing to worry about. I chose to believe her.

So, that's been my HOT day in Texas.

I gotta go now. I've got some Only Child Syndrome victims seeking advice who I must attend to.

Only Child Syndrome: The Epidemic Continues

Like I've said before, every day a lot of people come to this blog looking for relief from having to deal with Only Child Syndrome.

The various bloggings have gotten a lot of comments from victims of OCS. And from those who are OCS Deniers. I've previously likened OCS Deniers to Holocaust Deniers.

I've gotten a few comments from Only Children. Some admitting to suffering from the Syndrome, others denying its existence, others verbalizing in stereotypical Only Child Syndrome fashion.

Some of the commenters, like two of yesterday's Anonymouses seem very earnest, yet also sound as if they've not actually read the blogging to which they are commenting, or somehow missed the drift.

Below are the 2 Anonymouses comments, with links to the blogging they are commenting on...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Only Child Syndrome Strikes Again":

One only child is not like every other only child so do not get stuck in grouping them all together. You limit your ability to expand your horizons and accept others for who they are when you label and classify people. There are plenty of people out there that are insulting, disrespectful, troublemakers and are manipulators and has nothing to do with with their birth order or with being an only child - it is a choice!

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Only Child Syndrome":

Yeah, only children are the bane of society. We should exterminate all of them, because they're all exactly how you described. All of them. At least you aren't stereotyping.

And thank God you were lucky enough to not be an only child and too bad for those poor bastards with parents who had only them because they couldn't afford more children, they couldn't have more children, they simply were smart enough to know they shouldn't have more children for whatever reason, they had other children who died, they died, whatever other scenario. You are SO lucky. The rest of us are just selfish, I guess.

There is an Urban Dictionary website. The Urban Dictionary entries for Only Child Syndrome are amusing, and seem rather on target....

ONLY CHILD SYNDROME

1. A terrible disease that typically effects only-children, but can occasionally strike people with siblings. It may also effect children whose parents divorce.

Symptoms include: playing mind games with members of the opposite sex, a crippling desire for instant gratification, the inability to compromise or share, and a total disregard for anyone's thoughts or feelings but their own.

2. The self-centered attitude and actions that a large percentage of people with no siblings make their calling card.

3. Only children sometimes exhibit characteristics resembling women who have their periods. This can occasionally lead to flashes of intense anger when they don't get their way or someone insults them even the slightest bit. Also, when there is dissent in the friendship ranks which they are a part of, they lash out and try to make the other friends seem more culpable and especially more gay than they are. They have an overwhelming feeling that the world is against them and they tend to ruminate a lot as well. When you factor girls into the picture with an only child, it is never a pretty sight.

Only Child Syndrome Strikes Again

Like I've said before, every day a lot of people, from all over the world, come to this blog looking for relief from Only Child Syndrome.

The OCS Sufferers leave a lot of comments. The past couple days a lot more people than usual seem to be seeking relief.

Among the comments there have been a few who deny the existence of Only Child Syndrome. I consider these people no different than Holocaust Deniers.

Last night I got a real good comment to one of the many Bloggings I've written about Only Child Syndrome. The commenter was my most ubiquitous commenter, "Anonymous."

Below is what Anonymous had to say....

I deal with an only child every day. She is one of the rudest, most manipulative individuals I have ever had the misfortune to meet. She's continually sulking and brazenly insulting towards coworkers and disrespects her supervisors behind their backs. And, in spite of this, and her own admission that she is known to be a troublemaker, she would emphatically deny having OCS. I am just continually flabbergasted by her lies and manipulation tactics. How do they even bear to face themselves in the mirror? Amazing...

I feel your pain. You seem to be dealing with an extreme case. Does yours spew out the rude remarks, and then when you, or anyone, says anything slightly similar in return, the OCS pitches a fit? It's as if the OCSers somehow have completely convinced themselves that they have their own set of rules, while insisting others play by the OCSer's rules.

Like the 550 pound overweight OCSer can say to a healthy weighted co-worker that she looks like she's put on a few pounds. If the healthy-weighted co-worker then says something like, "uh, I really don't think you should be making comments about anyone's weight," the co-worker's perfectly appropriate remark sends the OCSer into fit mode, saying something like, "you are being so mean, making a veiled reference to me being fat."

It really is an amazing and weird phenomenon to experience. That is best avoided if you can.

Only Child Syndrome & The Mommy Playbook

Yesterday I blogged, again, about Only Child Syndrome. I'd seen a lot of people coming to my blog via searching for help in dealing with the syndrome.

And then I saw one of the relief seekers had come from a website called "The Mommy Playbook." I then visited "The Mommy Playbook" to discover a forum in which someone had started a thread titled "Too Hot to Touch" in which one of my bloggings about Only Child Syndrome was copied in its entirety. Which set off a lot of Mommys commenting.

There were several amusing comments to what I had to say about Only Child Syndrome. Below is one of my favorites...

I've never understood the need to have a huge celebration when it's someone's birthday.

On the subject, I think the author is a wee bit cranky, but does make some valid points. I've known some only children that were just awful to be around. I've also known only children that grew up to be wonderful, well-adjusted adults.

It totally has to do with parenting. I think yes, it probably takes a lot of work on the parents' part, but is well worth it to the child's future.

This article made me think of one horror story of a friend I had who was an only child and fit that description completely. Her parents made her the center of their world and she completely thought, and still thinks she is the center of the universe. I really hope I don't make the same mistakes.

The above is correct. The author was a bit cranky when he wrote about Only Child Syndrome. He'd dealt with the disturbingly bizarre behavior of one of the worst of the breed and was trying to figure out what causes such twisted, self-centered, irrational behavior.

Strange thing, in "The Mommy Playbook" thread about Only Child Syndrome I saw no link to my blog. So, how did this website show up in my stats as having a link to my blog? It's perplexing.

Only Child Syndrome: Another Outbreak

I wish I knew what causes the outbreaks of people suddenly looking for help in dealing with Only Child Syndrome. Yesterday I had one of those outbreaks, with relief seekers coming in clusters.

This time the outbreak was limited to the U.S. and Canada. Maybe OCS is a plot-line on a soap opera that popped up yesterday. Or maybe Oprah did an episode on the Syndrome some psychiatrists have opined is a disease.

I've blogged a number of times on this serious subject, originally doing so because I was trying to figure out the mentally ill behavior I experienced from an Only Child last summer in Tacoma.

The bloggings about Only Child Syndrome get a lot of comments. Yesterday's outbreak on people seeking Only Child Syndrome information generated an inadvertently funny comment from an Only Child. This is not the first comment I've gotten from an Only Child in which the Only Child seems to be both arguing against the reality of the Syndrome while at the same time exhibiting symptoms of the Syndrome.

Below is the comment.....

I feel like this is ridiculous.

Only Child Syndrome is a term used to describe selfish characteristics that tend to be exhibited in children with no siblings. being an only child has nothing to do with grammar, intelligence or, family dynamics. The truth of the matter is that growing up in a household where there are no other children you learn some vital survival skills, the first of which is that mom and dad don't always have time to play so be creative and play single person games, second; there is no one to share the task of chores with, so while "John and Jane" get to split and alternate, you are stuck doing dishes every day, third; the only reason to be angry with anyone is when they are insulting/disrespecting you or invading your space. I agree that it is more difficult for only children to make emotional attachments, but I think that with time the difficulty eases and we learn. The moral of the story, We ARE entitled, We DON'T have to share, and if you want us to share maybe you ought to be nice!

Only Child Syndrome: Case History #2

I've blogged about Only Child Syndrome several times.

Every day people from all over the world come to this blog seeking relief from dealing with the Syndrome.

Whenever I blog about OCS it seems to generate a lot of interesting comments. Many of them amusing. Some, inadvertently so.

Only Children who developed the Syndrome make the funniest comments. Always denying the existence of the Syndrome, while at the same time exhibiting, verbally, classic OCS attitudes.

And then you have the Only Children who get it and are working on it. I like them.

Now, I have never said that all Only Children develop the Syndrome. But, all the Only Children I have known have had the Syndrome to varying degrees. But, I'm sure if I knew 100 Only Children that there would be several totally Syndrome-free. Some parents are good parents, no matter if they have One Child. Or a dozen. Other parents have One Child, and, though they may mean well and not realize they are creating a monster, that is what their bad parenting does.

Two of the worst Only Child Syndrome cases I have known were very similar in how the Syndrome manifested itself in them. Which was ironic, because they had so many things in common in addition to both being Only Children.

They had the same first name, they both had alcoholic fathers, they were born within days of each other, in the same month, they were both overweight, with one being morbidly obese, they both had a history of imaginary boyfriends. They both were infatuated with me. (shudder) They both were unkempt, and, well, let's just say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this eye always saw the opposite of beauty when his eye beheld this particular pair.

And how did Only Child Syndrome manifest itself in this pair? They both required a lot of attention. Both had at least 2 personality modes. One being a semi-normal acting mode. The other being what I would call performance mode, as in acting up to get attention. Both were extremely neurotic, bordering on being paranoid much of the time. Both lacked self-awareness, with no sense of how others viewed them.

As it is with a lot of Only Children, a big deal must be made over birthdays, even well into adulthood, when most of us have reached the point where we prefer the day to be ignored. Both were known to throw elaborate parties for themselves. Homage had to be paid, or you risked a rage.

Which is another thing this pair of Only Children shared in common. Anger management issues. Both could fly into nonsensical rages when some random present moment thing would trigger a neurotic reaction. Very unpleasant to be around.

Both had a highly evolved sense of entitlement. That could lead to any number of bad things.

Both were extremely over-bearing, very opinionated, but both lacking the intellectual ability to reason their way out of the arguments they created. Both using the foot-stomping temper tantrum method of getting their way in a disagreement.

Obviously, I see neither of these particular Only Child Syndrome cases anymore. Which is a good thing.

Morbid Obesity, Only Child Syndrome & the World's Biggest Butt

Who knows why, but this Easter morning people from all over the world are coming to this blog looking for the World's Biggest Butt, Only Child Syndrome help and what to do about Morbid Obesity.

Why does this world-wide search for the World's Biggest Butt go through these repeating cycles? I can understand why those who are at the mercy of an Only Child might search for relief and why people are concerned about Morbid Obesity. But the endless quest to find the World's Biggest Butt?

Actually, I can sort of see a connection between big butts, only child syndrome and morbid obesity. As in I've seen all three in one person, more than once.

Anyway, this morning I got the longest comment ever to this blog. The subject was Morbid Obesity. The commenter was my most frequent commenter, that being Anonymous.

Below is what Anonymous had to say about Morbid Obesity, complete with reference links Anonymous provided...

I agree with you that morbid obesity is a form of mental illness and often-times bad character, including self-loathing, boundary issues, lack of personal responsibility, delusional thinking and usually obsessive-compulsive.

Survey says grossly obese people even over 400 pounds don't view themselves as overweight so that ought to be a tip off right there that there is something horribly wrong with them.

"...Indeed, among adults who met the National Institutes of Health criteria for being obese, only 15 percent realized they were obese, notes Kimberly P. Truesdale of the University of North Carolina. She says that her team's findings, which she reported in San Francisco earlier this month at the Experimental Biology '06 meeting, have important public health implications: "If [obese] people don't identify with being obese, then they're most likely going to ignore messages warning of health risks."..."

Most of them claim it's some kind of thyroid problem, but even people with thyroid difficulties who wish to be healthy can manage it.

It's a lack of self-control and often a method of trying to force other people to give them sympathy and special treatment while themselves lacking empathy for others.

Many morbidly obese are complete power-freaks. Morbidly obese women tend to view all normal weight women as enemies and tend to be bullies and this is true even in childhood.


"...What has struck me is that often the female serial bully is fat, and chooses a slim female target on to whom to project her self-loathing. Envy is a strong motivator for bullies...."

Survey says - most fat people are fat because they are lazy:

Very obese adults almost completely sedentary.

"Morbidly obese adults are sedentary for more than 99 percent of the day, getting only a fraction of the amount of walking that experts recommend for staying healthy, a small study suggests...

...The study of 10 men and women found that participants spent an average of 23 hours and 52 minutes sleeping, lying down or sitting each day...."

Kids Who Lack Self-Control More Prone to Obesity Later

"... In two papers published this week in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, scientists found that preschool-age children who had trouble with self-control and the ability to delay gratification gained more weight by the time they were preteens than those who were better at regulating their behavior..."

Only Child Syndrome Caused Suleman Octuplets

Sometimes it seems 50% of those coming to my blog come looking for Big Butts, Dallas Cowboy Stadium info and for help about how to deal with an Only Child Syndrome bully brat.

Apparently, the reason I get so many OCS sufferers coming here looking for relief from an Only Child is due to currently if you Google "Only Child Syndrome" this blog is in the #1 spot.

There is a lot of Only Child Syndrome info out there. I don't know why this blog would be considered to be the #1 source of info about that dire affliction.

Currently I think some of the Only Child Syndrome interest may be due to controversial octuplet mom, Nadya Suleman's, mom, Angela Suleman telling US Weekly magazine that she strongly believes her daughter's status as an only child played a role.

Makes sense to me.

Among the plethora of Only Child Syndrome info out there I found an Urban Dictionary that defined the affliction....

1. Only Child Syndrome

A terrible disease that typically effects only-children, but can occasionally strike people with siblings. It may also effect children whose parents divorce.

Symptoms include: playing mind games with members of the opposite sex, a cripling desire for instant gratification, the inability to compromise or share, and a total disregard for anyone's thoughts or feelings but their own.

Example 1: Man, that girl is such a bitch- she wouldn't even spare a square! She has the worst case of only child syndrome I've ever seen!

Example 2: My boss has the worst case of only child syndrome ever! Every time I do something good he finds a way to slam me down just so he can feel better about himself.

2. Only Child Syndrome

Only children sometimes exhibit characteristics resembling women suffering PMS. This can occasionally lead to flashes of intense anger when they don't get their way or if they perceive someone insults them even the slightest bit. Also, when there is dissent in the friendship ranks, which they are a part of, they lash out and try to make the other friends seem more culpable than they are. They have an overwhelming feeling that the world is against them and they tend to ruminate a lot as well. When you factor girls into the picture, with an only child, it is never a pretty sight.

Garzon: (on cell): Yo man, you wanna go play ball today?
Dre: Nah man, I got work today sorry.
Garzon: God Damnit, no-one ever wants to do anything in this town, I hate everyone. *click*

Later that night, Garzon ruminates for hours on how Dre is such a dick.

Garzon has exhibited traits that relate back to his "only child syndrome."

3. Only Child Syndrome

The self-centered attitude and actions that a large percentage of people with no siblings make their calling card.

Lars: "Why does he think everyone needs to worship the ground he walks on?"
Marv: "Dude it's just only child syndrome."

Well, there you go. Two months into the Obama Administration and I don't believe I've heard a word uttered regarding what we are going to do with this serious Only Child Syndrome problem that causes so much grief all over America. And the World.

Sadly, though none of Nadya Suleman's dozens of kids is an only child, they are all victims of one, according to their grandma, so even though they aren't Only Children, they all suffer from Only Child Syndrome.

Only Child Syndrome: Part IV

Like I've said before, every day dozens of people come to this blog looking for information about how to deal with Only Child Syndrome (OCS). The info seekers seem to come in clusters. Why? I do not know.

Just in the past few hours there have been people from Lexington KY, Albany NY, Houston, Littleton CO, Lock Haven PA, Brick NJ, Ft. Lauderdale, Cincinnati, Worth IL, Springfield OH, Memphis, Rochester NY, Washington, D.C., Portland OR, Wayne NJ and Kalamazoo MI.

I have yet to see a single info seeker come from China. China has the world's largest number of Only Children. A percentage higher than that which would normally occur, in any given culture, due to China having that have only one child policy. Maybe there is something about how the Chinese raise their kids that prevents Only Child Syndrome from developing. Or maybe the Chinese OCS is a ticking time bomb that will eventually destroy the planet in one apocalyptic temper tantrum.

There are some who say that OCS does not exist. I have known 6 Only Children. All 6 had the syndrome to varying degrees. I do believe if one knew 100 Only Children that it is likely that a few among the 100 might not have OCS. The majority of emails and comments I've received, on the subject, agree that OCS definitely exists. I've even heard from a large number of Only Children who know OCS exists. Including one I received yesterday, that I will copy below.

I do know of one OC, who may be the worst case of OCS I've encountered, who thinks I made up OCS, just to somehow make fun of her. This is a typical OCS response. It is always all about them. It certainly can not be about the victim of an OC and the OCS victim trying to figure out what it was that caused such bizarrely dysfunctional behavior.

A couple of well regarded American shrinks are onboard regarding OCS. One being G. Stanley Hall, who refers to OCS as a disease. And another, a protege of Freud, Alfred Adler, who believed "only children" were deficient, having been pampered and spoiled by their parents to the point that it later caused interpersonal difficulties whenever the OC perceived that he/she was not universally liked and admired. (I have certainly experienced that OCS trait up close and personal)

My own worst personal OCS case hits bingo on all the OCS stereotypes. Prime among them is an epic cluelessness as to how transparent the aberrant behavior is to observers. My worst case can verbalize, via written word, a spiteful diatribe that is so full of ironic hypocrisies and self-revealing thought processes, that it leaves the reader both appalled and very amused.

The reason this occurs is that in worse case OCS sufferers a very deviant form of psychological transference and projection occurs that is called malignant narcissism. In order to maintain the mindset that the only child is all good and their imagined enemies all bad, malignant narcissists project all the unacceptable parts of themselves onto those enemies. Thus, they will consistently accuse them of doing bad things, that they are in fact doing themselves (even as they deny doing them).

If an only child feels threatened by a supposedly evil enemy, aggressive behavior toward the imaginary malevolent adversary is morally justified as mere self defense in the mind of the only child. When antisocial traits are added to the mix, the malignant narcissus is willing to lie and violate both rules and the rights of others without compunction or interference of a conscience in the service of the Only Child's deluded righteousness. The malignant narcissistic Only Child feels heroic for lying, cheating, stealing and wreaking havoc with people's lives in their twisted battle against imaginary evil.

The above 2 paragraphs are taken from a psych textbook. They are so on target that all I can say is "Bulls Eye." And "Bingo."

I would go into a detailed analysis of the sadly revelatory nature of my worst case OCS's latest twisted diatribe, but I've already used up too many words on this particular musing about this subject. I've heard from several victims of OCS who want to read more on this subject. I'll continue to do my part to help shed some light, despite getting rather sad, threatening, missives, stereotypically Only Child Syndrome, in nature, from a very sad OC.

I'll end with copying yesterday's missive from an Only Child calling her/himself "Spoiled Brat...

"I have to admit that I also suffer from this syndrome! I am the only-child and I find it quite difficult to express my feelings. This could be because I was over protected as a child and wasn't allowed to express my feelings much. Most people who are only children have the tendency to regress to children when they don't get their way or think they are not being heard.

"Waaaaaahhhhh...Look at ME!" LOL

Even as a 24 year old, I still have problems communicating with others. While most people tend to like me, its hard for me to form a real bond. I agree with the excerpt you had from another blog, I have also cut groups of people out of my life without any remorse or afterthought. it could be defensive mechanism because as an only child, you are forced to take care of yourself.

Also, when I was younger, I got picked on a lot because I had glasses and bushy hair. I had to fight for myself on a daily basis!!! This could be another reason why I don't easily form bonds with people.

What makes it worse is, I have a half sister, but I still consider myself the only child because I wasn't raised in the same household as her. I remember when I was 19 and I told my Dad, "I wish it was just me.." before I could even stop myself. His eyes got big like I threatened kill my little sister or something!LOL so yeah, I believe that most children who don't have siblings have problems forming an emotional bond with anyone, but it is something I am working on."

Catfish, Kava Tea & Only Child Syndrome

That is a nondescript catfish joint called Tuckers in the picture. It is in North Richland Hills on Davis Boulevard. Its billboard says its catfish is famous. I have no independent verification of that, nor do I care to personally sample their famous inland "seafood."

I was at this location due to me agreeing to pick someone up here on my way back from Southlake. I won't go into the details of why I was in Southlake, except to say while I was in Southlake I also went to Sprouts Farmers Market, and among other things I got Kava Tea. I've not had that medicinal herb since I got a supply direct from the island of Kuaui. That's part of Hawaii. Hawaii is a state way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

I do not wait well. You can see how impatient I was being by looking at the picture, on the right, of me looking impatient, getting all rumpled and bored. When I agree to meet someone I expect them to be at the appointed location at the appointed time. The party in question was supposed to be on a precise spot at precisely 1:15pm. However, at that point in time, that spot was occupied by an urchin selling some sort of Valentine bauble. I declined the Valentine bauble offer. I do not participate in Hallmark type occasions, which pretty much makes me immune to just about any holiday.

At 1:17 pm the person in question finally arrived, unforgivably tardy. I'll probably get over it. I may even forgive it. After awhile.

When I got back here and checked my computer messages I saw one of them was a very good comment from a person suffering from Only Child Syndrome. I keep intending to blog again about OCS, what with there being so many sufferers out there, both those who are OC's and those who are victims of OCS.

But, it just so painful to write about, dredges up all sorts of troubling memories. And it is complex to detail my personal experiences with Only Child Syndrome, what with the behaviors being so oddly convoluted, yet sort of amusing when viewed from the perspective of distance and time. In other words, when written about when the memory of the pain of dealing with one of those monsters is not quite so fresh.

I did not see any sign of damage from last night's storm when I drove north.

It Ain't Over Til The Fat Lady Sings (in Texas)

I was looking for images of a Fat Woman having a temper tantrum for a blogging I was going to write about Only Child Syndrome, due to me being amazed at how many people came to my blog yesterday looking for help in dealing with OCS (Only Child Syndrome).

I think it'll wait for another day to write some more about the particularly disturbing OCS problem which seems to be plaguing the earth. People seem to be looking for help from all over the world.

Except China. There are more Only Children in China than anywhere else on the planet, due to China's "One Child" policy. One would think China would be having some sort of national nervous breakdown due to dealing with all those Only Children. Instead China has what may be the world's strongest economy. It's a conundrum.

So, when I was looking for images of a Fat Woman having a temper tantrum I came upon a book about classic Texas sports quotes, with the title being "...Til the Fat Lady Sings..."

I had no idea, and still don't, that the famous, "It ain't over til the fat lady sings" cliche was of Texas origin.

The book is by Alan Burton, the illustrations, including the cover, are by Kent Gamble.

A short synopses of the book follows...

Everybody knows that Texans take their sports seriously. Whether it's a high school football clash on Friday night, a college baseball game on Saturday afternoon, or a pro basketball matchup on Sunday morning, sports is serious business in the Lone Star State.

How serious? Ask Don Meredith to comment on former Dallas Cowboy Coach Tom Landry: "He's a perfectionist. If he was married to Racquel Welch, he'd expect her to cook." Or talk to golf pro Lee Treviño about the tour: "You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work." And if you're still not convinced, read what former Texas Rangers manager Whitey Herzog had to say in 1973: "We need just two players to be a contender. Just Babe Ruth and Sandy Koufax."

These quotes and hundreds more are included in this collection of classic Texas sports quotes. More than ten years in the making, "'Til the Fat Lady Sings" features approximately 400 quotes from more than a hundred different sources. Coaches, sports writers, athletes, broadcasters, fans, politicians, actors, and team owners all speak out with wit and wisdom about the games and the names of Texas sports. This book is a must have for everyone who plays and enjoys the game of life.

The Chapters...

Shut the Door and Amen
Sex, Blackmail, and Payoffs
The Phantom of the Opera and the Fat Lady
Ho-Hum, the Eyes of Texas Are Upon You
Pickup Trucks, Cold Beer, Barbecued Ribs, Gumbo, and Chewing Tobacco
The Eighth Wonder of the World
The Big Shootouts
Baseball and Pets

Only Child Syndrome Strikes Again

Commenting on Only Child Syndrome, someone told me that "Eric Cartman (South Park) is a spoiled only child of a mother who smothers him with attention and food. He’s a greedy, manipulative being, is a smartass and a foul-mouthed little brat, is vindictive & shallow AND a liar, a cheat, a smug winner and a backstabber!"

Yup, Cartman is just like one or two of the Only Children I know. Or used to know. Only Children tend to wear out their welcome. Or steal from you, swear at you, try to get even with you and in some way or the other stab you in the back.

When I first blogged about Only Child Syndrome I had no idea there were so many people out there dealing with the Syndrome. Every day there are people coming to my blog using various search strings, such as "Only Child Brat," or "Only Child Syndrome," or "Only Child Problem," or "Only Child Liar," or "Only Child Sickness," or "Only Child Disease."

If you scroll down til you see my FeedJit stats on the right, then at the bottom of that you can click "watch in real time" and you'll likely see one or two people looking for help in dealing with an Only Child.

I've gotten quite a few comments regarding Only Child Syndrome. This morning I got a real good one, which quotes me up til the LMAO part....

"Googling 'Only Child Syndrome' I found several blogs written by Only Children, basically admitting they are different and another blog blogging about the Syndrome with several Only Children commenting on the blog and ironically and cluelessly confirming the Syndrome with their comments."------LMAO. I googled the same and could not believe the comments that were being left by only children regarding the fact that in no way did they conform to such a terrible stereotype!!! They would then continue on to contradict themselves and be completely clueless that they had done it too! Hilarious! I am engaged to an only child. I deal with the very real syndrome every day of my life. Now, probably not all only children have it, but it exists. It DEFINITELY exists!!!!! "This is mine! I won't share it!" "Look at me!! I want attention!!!" " Waaaaaaaaah you made fun of me just like I just made fun of youuuuu only I cant handle it!!!" hahaha. I wish there were more blogs about this topic. Very interesting.

Well, if you're looking for more blogs about Only Child Syndrome, this morning I found one written by an Only Child, called "Only Child Syndrome: Confessions of a recovering only child."

One of the things I find most troubling with Only Children is their irrational, easily triggered tempers. The Only Child can say the rudest, most inappropriate of remarks, but if you reply in kind, the Only Child will erupt. I've known an Only Child who will erupt if she simply perceives you are somehow being critical of her. It can be over something as simple as saying "Take a right at the next intersection." or "The change is 6 dollars, give her 6 dollars."

If you deal with an Only Child you learn to avoid the triggers. So, this sort of makes the Only Child an overbearing bully. I have an aversion to someone yelling at me, particularly when it makes no sense and is caused by the yeller's screwed up thinking, so I definitely try to avoid the triggers.

If the Only Child makes a demand, like, "Hey, I want a flat of those raspberries," you have to weigh the situation carefully. You think to yourself, "they are my berries, I got them, I've got a use for them." You think to yourself, "I know the raspberries will just go to waste if I give this pig a flat." And then you conclude, "If I tell her I'm taking all 3 flats, she will lose her temper. She's already had one fit today, it's not worth it, I'll give her a flat." And then a week later I'm at the Only Child's pigsty house and sure enough, there are the raspberries, in the fridge, maybe a third eaten, the rest starting to mold.

I've never said all Only Children fit the Only Child Syndrome mold. I will say, I have known many who do. The ones who do are all despicable, difficult human beings.

I fear China is setting itself up for a future disaster with their one child only policy. Over a billion Only Children. That can not be good for the world.

Below is a YouTube video in which what appear to be students are practicing a debate. About Only Child Syndrome....

Only Child Syndrome: Part III

Way back when I first blogged about Only Child Syndrome it was one of my ways to try and understand some astonishingly weird behavior I had been subjected to last summer. At the time I wrote about the Syndrome I didn't realize that there are a lot of other people out there equally perplexed by the vexing Only Child Syndrome.

Every day a lot of people come to my bloggings about Only Child Syndrome. They come from all over the world. Awhile back I found that Google has my Only Child Syndrome blogging in the #1 spot. I do not understand why. There is a lot more detailed Only Child Syndrome information out there than my musings.

There has been a lot of research into the Syndrome, a lot of papers written, there's a lot of opinion out there. Strangely, some of the research and opinion tries to claim there is no such thing as Only Child Syndrome. It's likely that that research and those opinions were from Only Children in denial, because the amount of anecdotal Only Child Syndrome info out there, from those who believe the Syndrome is real, because they've been victims of it, would seem to validate the reality of Only Child Syndrome. Many of the Only Child Syndrome victims believe the Syndrome should be treated as a disease with a search for a cure.

The common behaviors that people seem to experience when dealing with this disease is the Only Child is universally self-centered, self-absorbed and lacking in self-awareness. Only Children are insensitive, can say the rudest of things, are often downright mean. However, the Only Child has extremely thin skin, will get upset at the slightest perceived provocation. In the Only Child's world it can do no wrong, can get away with anything. The Only Child will get very upset if someone treats it the way it treats others.

Tootsie Tonasket has an Only Child who exhibits all the classic behaviors. On his MySpace page, in his profile, part of his self-description is, "I am an Only Child, so I expect all the focus to be on me." All the Only Children I've known have that attitude. What is sad, very few have the social skills to cause the focus to be on them. So, it becomes a demand for attention. Or they go to bizarre lengths to get attention and be the focus.

The attention getting behaviors can be things like dressing odd, eating like a pig, getting drunk and obnoxious, committing a crime, overdrafting a bank account, having a fit or assuming an elevated air of accomplishment. For instance, doing some simple task like baking cookies or some handicraft type thing and then acting as if they are a gourmet chef or a creative artist of the top order.

Only Children often tout themselves. They'll tell you what fabulous taste they have. They'll be quick to denigrate the taste of others or say something is beneath their taste level. The Only Child will set itself up on a pedestal from which it will dispense accolades to those it deigns to honor. But it is always self-serving, it is always, in reality, about the Only Child, not about the object of the Only Child's twisted praise.

The Only Child can be a social miscreant of the most venal low-life sort and yet give itself permission to talk about how it warms their heart to see someone doing such good for humanity, giving the Only Child hope for the world of the future. The Only Child is very rarely aware of their flagrant, ironic, hypocrisy.

The Only Child can be the laziest, sloppiest, most unkempt type of individual, basically living in squalor with a filthy floor, unwashed dishes and clutter everywhere. And not hesitate for a second to comment about someone else's standards. The Only Child always has an excuse for the messes in its wake. It is never their fault. The dishes didn't get washed because there was something more important to do. "You can't expect everyone to be like you," the Only Child says when asked why there are so many dirty dishes. "Clean dishes and a clean house are not the most important thing in my life," as if what is important in its life was the point. Turning a question about dirty dishes into the issue having to do with what's important in its life is classic Only Child Syndrome nonsense.

The Only Child can turn an inquiry about a health issue, such as if you ask if a grossly overweight Only Child wouldn't feel better if they lost a few hundred pounds, the Only Child will say something like, "If other people have a problem with me being fat I don't care. I'm happy with how I look." Where a non-Only Child Syndrome person would say something like, "I wish I could get the weight off, it's so hard, I know I'd be happier, I'd fit on a plane better and I'd feel better on a beach. Thanks for caring about my health."

The Only Child can be a grossly overweight slob, homely to a degree painful to the eye, dress like a cartoon character, yet think nothing of commenting on someone else's looks, clothes, or weight.

Only Children are immune from hearing the irony of what comes out of their mouths.

Okay, that is enough Only Children rambling for the day. The next time I blog about Only Children I'll tell you about the worst cases I've ever experienced. And they both have the same first name! Along with many many many other shared attributes.