Summary

The author is creating a "Single Girl Registry" for her move to Los Angeles, challenging the norm that gift registries are only for married couples and advocating for support during significant life transitions for single individuals.

Abstract

The author, a single woman, is facing the financial and logistical challenges of moving to Los Angeles. She argues that single people, unlike couples, bear the full burden of such transitions alone, including the costs of movers, temporary lodging, and maintaining previous living spaces until they can sell or close on them. Inspired by friends and fans who wanted to celebrate her move with gifts, she decided to create a "Single Girl Registry" on Amazon. This registry is a social experiment to normalize asking for and receiving help from one's community during major life events, such as moving, changing jobs, or starting a business. The author emphasizes that single individuals should not have to wait for societal milestones like marriage to receive support or material assistance.

Opinions

The author believes that the societal expectation of gift-giving should extend to single individuals during significant life changes, not just married couples.
She points out the financial disparity between single people and couples, highlighting that couples often have dual incomes and shared resources, which mitigates the impact of major transitions.
The author is critical of the idea that single people should accept trade-offs or be content with their situation without seeking or receiving support.
She views the creation of the registry as a way to celebrate her independence and the next chapter of her life, as well as a statement on the value of single life and personal achievements.
The author suggests that her move is a significant life event that warrants community support, much like a wedding or other traditional milestones.
She challenges the notion that single people's lives don't change as dramatically as those of couples when they undergo transitions, such as moving to a new city.
The author sees the registry as an alternative form of support, akin to crowdfunding platforms like Ko-Fi or Patreon, where fans can contribute in lieu of traditional gift-giving occasions.

Why I’m Making a Single Girl Registry for My Move to Los Angeles

Why should I have to get married to make it through the largest transition I’ve ever had in my life? Married people got two incomes AND two sets of stuff already! Let’s normalize single people gift registries!

I’ve lived by myself for 16 years.

Which I realize is something of an aberration for Millennials. But that’s just part of coming from the old New York: the only upside of shitty old buildings is rent stabilization. Thus with the exception of a few hand-me-downs from my parents when I started out, I had to get everything for my homes on my own over time.

As I face the largest and most significant move I’ve ever made in my life to date, it’s no shock I’ve been slapped with numerous expenses: movers. Junk removal service. Paying the security deposit plus pro-rated rent to kick off my new lease. Lodging while I get my condo ready for sale and have no furniture, cookware, or anything. All while I still need to pay for the condo’s common charges until I find a buyer, and they successfully close.

Moving is EXPENSIVE, people. It doesn’t start and stop at renting a truck or hiring a service!

Granted, I knew these expenses were coming and I’d been laboriously saving my money plus purging parts of my wardrobe and household items, in addition to artifacts from my old life I decided wouldn’t come with me. This move has been planned for an extremely long time, and things still happened to waylay those plans for both better and worse!

Single people also bear a disproportionately higher burden when it comes to both living expenses and major interruptions like relocation.

So when a couple friends and fans expressed interest in sending me housewarming gifts to celebrate my move to LA, I was touched. Then upon seeing this tweet, I decided to run a social experiment.

I have opened a single girl registry!

Behold, all its glory.

Linking it here again once more time: https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/GZHQ9CZG20M9/guest-view

So, why would a single woman do this, you ask? “But Rachel! You talk about how we shouldn’t be in a relationship for the sake of it and how singe life is great! You have to take the tradeoffs!”

No. I don’t.

I want to normalize single people asking for help with things like moving, getting a new job or starting a business, adopting a pet, and other major life changes. What better way to do it than to ask my friends and fans to give their froggy mistress some tribute?!

Now, think about it: a couple has two incomes, and given the era we live in, they’ve likely already been living together for some time so things aren’t going to significantly change in their day-to-day lives except having to file some paperwork.

Whereas I not only have a shitload of paperwork on business and personal levels, I have one income which is going to be interrupted for a month.

Moreover, I’m moving over 2,000 miles away and giving up my homeland of about 130+ years. I’m not going for a job or a man. I’m bringing my digital business and about a van’s worth of possessions, but my life is going to be incredibly different once I land at LAX.

So why not see if friends, fans, and whoever else stumbles across my Single Toad Girl Moving to LA Registry wants to contribute if my content has entertained them all these years?

Moving is such an expensive ass-ache, indie games take a really long time to make, content is churned out quicker but still takes time, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing I’m doing that took months of deliberation and a year of planning.

Why should I wait for a husband I might never find to get a better slow-cooker?

Fuck it. You only live once.

I made an Amazon registry celebrating what I hope will be a new chapter in niche media history, even though finding my happiness in my late thirties as a single woman who loves toads and giant lizards is reason enough.

I present my registry now that I am undergoing this massive life change by myself. Celebrate this epic relocation with me, and what I hope is the next major chapter of batshit independent media history.

If you’re a fan, consider this an alternative to Ko-Fi, Patreon, etc. I’ll give you extra love when my game comes out, like a free copy and coming on your livestream!

If you’re a friend, this is for all the wedding gifts I helped pay for. I love you, but your life didn’t really change much once you got a ring. You and your spouse already had stuff and were living together. Whereas my life is going through the biggest change it’s had since I left the financial industry in 2014 to pursue entrepreneurship and a media career.

Let’s normalize single people asking for material help when we need or want it during major life changes.

That cute toad compels you once more. https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/GZHQ9CZG20M9/guest-view