(for everyone)

Which is/was more difficult for you? Seeing someone interacting with their children or seeing someone interacting with their spouse?

Assume that you are (or were) a normal person who feels (or has felt) a normal range of emotions when seeing people in both of these situations.

Inspired by some posts here.

Hmm methinks no one wants to admit that it hurts.

I think the way its written is very vague, I'm not sure who/when/what "you" is?

Yeah, I'm completely lost here. Is this supposed to be geared towards singles who are suffering when looking at happy families/couples? Because I can't think of any other sector that would be upset when viewing these things.

It's geared toward everyone. I'm operating under the assumption that everyone has been single and childless for at least some period of their life and people can vote for how they felt in the past. It was specifically posted in response to some of the posts in the other shidduch threads that are currently active. I should have been more specific about that (I'll put a link in the first post).

I'm not trying to draw any conclusions. The only reason I made the poll is because I like being able to get a snapshot of people's opinions, the discussion aside. My aim is to foster discussion about the topic because I find it interesting.

I would imagine that someone in an unhappy marriage lacking in affection may have some feelings of sadness when seeing seemingly happy couples. Being married does not always end lonliness.

Why should I be upset and/or hurt by seeing a loving family?

It's hard for me to see fathers and sons together because it reminds me that my son is never going to have that experience again. Happy couples don't really bother me, although I did find myself avoid stores during the Valentine's Day mishegas.

There should be a choice for seeing an interaction which makes me want that situation less.

Say you're married, and your spouse is not as loving or affectionate as you'd like. Or you're married, and have a lousy marriage. Or you're married and childless. Or you're single, and desperate to find your destined one. In any of these scenarios, it may be painful to witness a loving exchange between a couple, or between a mom and her children.

How about my dad can sometimes be a complete arse and our relationship will never be a good one for reasons which I don't feel like detailing in public, yet I still don't get hurt when I see fathers and sons interacting in a way that I was never able to with my own dad? People need to learn to get over things. They really do.

I purposefully didn't use the words upset or hurt. It is not abnormal for an individual to feel more than one feeling at once. E.g., joy and sadness, joy and jealousy, peace and contentment and longing.