I just sometimes go for years without seeing them, and so didn't get the feeling of horror that the movie was trying to convey, and which obviously made an impression on my friend.

I could do a lot of time with no one else around, but not forever. After seeing the movie Castaway I joked that the guys' plight didn't seem so bad to me, but in reality thinking that you'd never see another human again would be pretty tough. If I had an endless supply of books it would help, assuming that there would no longer be an internet to surf. And I'd have to have some animals around too.

at last! Peace and quiet at last!"

Like you, I recognize the need of having at least SOME people around, if only to preserve a modicum of civilization so that the things I love can continue (books, classes, art museums, restaurants, national parks) but my immediate first reaction is that, if I were to be the protagonist, I would have not to deal with people....every.goddamn.day.

As a recent retiree, I have most enjoyed the fact that I can almost totally manage my people contact. No longer do I have to tolerate the RW co-worker with his whack ideas; the boss who calls up to ask where such-and-such a document is, when it has been sitting on his desk (with a big red note on it) for the three days since he asked for it LAST time; the gratuitously nasty co-worker with the shitty home life; the asshole who cut me off on the way to work; etc.

Not dealing with the work world has done wonders for my mental health!

and nature would take back the cities. However companionship of the opposite gender would certainly make the stay much better.

So I wound up with very little $, but I'm far happier than in my working days for some of the same reasons as yourself. My time is my own. No one tells me what to do when (except for abiding by the law, of course) and so long as I can avoid jail, I don't have to put up with anyone I don't want to see. Blessed, blessed relief. Never been bored in my life and never will be. There's too much work. But I set my own schedule, and if I want to read at 2 A.M., that's exactly what I do.

I view it as just reward for sparing all those people in years past (and a few now) that I really would've loved to go after with an iron skillet.

Which reminds me of another blessing - I also cook and eat what I want and when I want. It's very hard to keep a straight face when people offer me sympathy for living alone. I also suspect part of the unspeakable ire a few others direct toward me has partly to do with jealousy, even though they might have a lot more in worldly goods. Which brings up another oddity; nobody else in town wanted this ancient house, at least not enough to buy it at the bargain basement price I paid. In another short while it would've been impossible to rehab at all.

But now that I have the entire outside looking halfway decent and the yard heavily landscaped, some people make it clear they don't think it's fair for me to have a big beautiful place to live in just for myself. Even though it's going to Catholic Workers for a rest home when I'm gone. They're also puzzled by how I live so well on so little, but I know they'd never for one second dream of sacrificing like I have to bring new life to the place, w/o incurring debt.

Hahahahaha - can you imagine how it galls the RW to see a damned (allegedly) godless Democrat outdo them? I always had blue striped shade cloth around the porch but had to replace it twice, so finally I gave it up. The 1" square white lattice I just had put up around the porch is there for a lot more than shade. I like to sit outside and listen to the world go by while keeping my own silence. And I can see everyone even though they can't see me.

Aha! That proves I'm up to no good!

that would be my first thought too.

I tend to like post-apocalyptic type stuff, always have. Even before it was all trendy like it is now. I think maybe that is why I'm drawn to it. I think a lot of people like it for the sheer horror it makes them feel (like how people like horror movies in general so much), but I think I like it because at some level, yeah, it's sort of comforting to think about, in a weird way. I know I'm not explaining this very well, because yeah, I do like having people around in general, but again, more to your point, I don't think I have the same reaction to a world devoid of people as a non-loner would.

"Lucky!"

The Twilight Zone episode Time enough at last?

Richard Matheson wrote some the screenplay for this version;
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058700/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt

I'm a Matheson fan: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0558577/?ref_=tt_ov_wr