Star Jones: Being single on ‘The View’ was hard

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As Valentine's Day approaches, there was a lot of talk about singles on TODAY Wednesday.

TODAY’s Professionals — Star Jones, Donnie Deutsch, and Nancy Snyderman — took on the topic of discrimination felt by single people, from the financial to the social.

"I was thinking, with Meredith here earlier," said Jones, referring to former TODAY anchor Meredith Vieira, who revisited the show Wednesday to talk about her upcoming segment on "Rock Center with Brian Williams." "We used to have this discussion all the time on 'The View.' " (Jones and Vieira were fellow co-hosts on the ABC talk show from 1997 to 2006.)

"Meredith was the 'working mom,' so we had to always make sure that our spring break was around her kids' spring break," Jones recalled. "To be honest with you, Meredith and I talked about it many times. I definitely resented it ... Suppose I didn't want a break in March? It was an issue."

Jones comment came up as the Professionals debated a phenomenon brought up in a Daily Beast story this week, which questions whether singles get stigmatized. The article points out recent census data that suggests 49 percent of adults in this country are unmarried — and more than 25 percent of households contain one person.

For ad exec Deutsch, single discrimination was "just something I felt sometimes," as a man who has spent most of his adult working life unmarried. "I had to answer why I was single," he said. "I'm not saying (corporations) weren't giving me their business, but OK, 'Why is this guy single?' " they wondered. To Deutsch, it seemed that when they learned he was single, they thought, "there's less stability."

In contrast, Deutsch said, having single young people in the workplace is "a benefit to employers," as they're more willing to work around the clock.

"I think one of the real problems for single people is that if you don't have a social life, you stay at work longer," said Snyderman. "The longer you stay at work, the less you're going to see people."

And in the journalism business, she pointed out, you become what's called a "news nun."

Do you feel there's discrimination against single people? Have you ever experienced it, whether with friends or at work? Vote below — and describe your experiences in the comments!