I tend to nickname men I go out with. It might be mean, but it makes for easier explanations.
Small Paul
Paul was a guy I met on eharmony, he was cute, had a great sense of humor, worked at a company that was altruistic and gave back to the community, he was also gentleman.
The catch? He was 5'0. Now, I don't have a problem with men and height, but he was *really* short. I found it humorous because he drove a Toyota FJ Cruiser, so when he got into it, he really had to jump up and climb in. It ends up that his dad was a jockey and that's why he was tiny.
We went out on 3 dates, and things seemed to be going well. Then, I stopped hearing from him. He just didn't call or text. Finally, he responded and said that he had gotten back with his ex-girlfriend and they were going to give it another try. So, another one bites the dust.
Well, a month passes by and one night I get a text at about 2am from him, something to the effect of "come over, etc, etc". I text him back and ask him what the heck is he thinking. He tells me that he meant to text his girlfriend and accidentally texted me. (really?) He asks me to come over and I say no (duh). He then says that he and his girlfriend re-booted their relationship but she refuses to get physical with him for a while. I tell him he's disgusting and to delete my number.
I learned this: Ask up front how long it's been since the guy has broken up with his girlfriend. In general if it's been less than 6 months, the guy is not a viable candidate.
The catch? He was 5'0. Now, I don't have a problem with men and height, but he was *really* short. I found it humorous because he drove a Toyota FJ Cruiser, so when he got into it, he really had to jump up and climb in. It ends up that his dad was a jockey and that's why he was tiny.
We went out on 3 dates, and things seemed to be going well. Then, I stopped hearing from him. He just didn't call or text. Finally, he responded and said that he had gotten back with his ex-girlfriend and they were going to give it another try. So, another one bites the dust.
Well, a month passes by and one night I get a text at about 2am from him, something to the effect of "come over, etc, etc". I text him back and ask him what the heck is he thinking. He tells me that he meant to text his girlfriend and accidentally texted me. (really?) He asks me to come over and I say no (duh). He then says that he and his girlfriend re-booted their relationship but she refuses to get physical with him for a while. I tell him he's disgusting and to delete my number.
I learned this: Ask up front how long it's been since the guy has broken up with his girlfriend. In general if it's been less than 6 months, the guy is not a viable candidate.
The Cop
I met the Cop on eharmony as well. Now, it's sort of a known thing that eharmony is a site where people would like to find someone to enter into a more serious relationship with.
We hit it off right away, he was well-read, intelligent and a good communicator. He was attentive, interested and made time to go out on dates with me. I thought to myself, this is going well, but don't get too far ahead of yourself.
Same thing happens as with Small Paul. He just stops calling and texting. After about 3 weeks I hear from him and he tells me he's reconnected with a previous girlfriend and he wants to see where it will go. I am disappointed, but I understand. Two weeks go by and he calls me again and asks me out. I make the assumption that he's stopped dating her. Well, um, that wasn't the case. We go out and I ask him why he chose me to go out with instead of her. He says he didn't choose me. He's dating both of us. I'm sort of shocked, because I really thought he was a good man. I ask him why he is still seeing me. He says because, "You're fun".
That was the last time I saw him. He texted me and says he wants to get together to explain and can I see him for coffee. I say ok, he chooses the date. It happens to be Valentine's Day. I tell him it's Valentine's, he says no way can we go out that night, let's reschedule. I never hear from him again.
I learned this: Start out with the assumption that if men can go out with more than woman at a time, they will. (I know, I know, a generalization once again, but this has happened to me a number of times, so I'm speaking from experience.)
I met the Cop on eharmony as well. Now, it's sort of a known thing that eharmony is a site where people would like to find someone to enter into a more serious relationship with.
We hit it off right away, he was well-read, intelligent and a good communicator. He was attentive, interested and made time to go out on dates with me. I thought to myself, this is going well, but don't get too far ahead of yourself.
Same thing happens as with Small Paul. He just stops calling and texting. After about 3 weeks I hear from him and he tells me he's reconnected with a previous girlfriend and he wants to see where it will go. I am disappointed, but I understand. Two weeks go by and he calls me again and asks me out. I make the assumption that he's stopped dating her. Well, um, that wasn't the case. We go out and I ask him why he chose me to go out with instead of her. He says he didn't choose me. He's dating both of us. I'm sort of shocked, because I really thought he was a good man. I ask him why he is still seeing me. He says because, "You're fun".
That was the last time I saw him. He texted me and says he wants to get together to explain and can I see him for coffee. I say ok, he chooses the date. It happens to be Valentine's Day. I tell him it's Valentine's, he says no way can we go out that night, let's reschedule. I never hear from him again.
I learned this: Start out with the assumption that if men can go out with more than woman at a time, they will. (I know, I know, a generalization once again, but this has happened to me a number of times, so I'm speaking from experience.)
The Ring Bearer
I met the Ring Bearer through match.com. None of his photos really showed his face, except for one where he was reading books to small children at the library (this is not uncommon, when people don't show their faces on dating sites). He lived an hour away, but drove down to go to dinner with me in Seattle. As we chatted, he explained a lot about his background, how he was originally in the seminary and then dropped out and became an atheist and a carpenter (this wasn't lost on me). He bragged that he was in the Rotary Club in the town he lived in. He was involved in his community and he worked a lot. He seemed down to earth and self confident.
He was wearing a ring when we met up and I jokingly asked if he was married, he said no, it was a gift from his mother who had passed away. For some reason I didn't question that. (I'm naive.) He moved the ring to a different finger.
We finish dinner and I head back home. All of a sudden, I get all these freaked out text messages from him. He's lost his ring. He's beside himself, he asks me to look in my purse, etc. He calls me back and tells me he finds it in his car. I keep wondering, why is he getting so upset about the ring, but then didn't give it another thought.
Another two weeks passes and he can't make time to go out, but we talk on the phone, email and text. I'm not sure why I didn't research him on the internet after we went out the first time, he told me he didn't believe in Facebook, and some people don't use it, so I didn't question that. I implicitly trusted him and he seemed sincere. We went out a couple more times and I asked him what his intentions were with seeing me, he told me it could never progress past dating because that wasn't what he wanted from the relationship. I was bummed, but I enjoyed his company, so I figured I would see how it went.
Friday night came and we chatted on the phone, then I was bored and I started looking him up on the internet. What was the first thing I found? A photo of him with his 2 year old and newborn baby. At that point I was more disgusted than upset. I kept searching, found photos of he and his wife, they had been married 7 years or something. They had a baby about 3 months before we met.
I called him out on it and wrote him a long message.
Excerpt from my email to him:
"I am sincerely amazed at how dishonest you are. I can only choose to believe that *every single thing you told me was a lie*. This is incredible; because I was seriously convinced you were different than all the others. Well, you are not. You are worse. More than anything, I can’t fathom why you would do this to your wife and children. Is this the example you want to set for your sons? Your behavior is reprehensible."
Excerpt from his response:
"I will only explain my actions to you if you so desire. I don’t know if you even care or, & no offense to you, would even believe me anyway. I’ll leave that one to you. Other than that I can only say that you are blameless in this whole scenario & any further pain you may feel should be directed to me only. I do hate the fact that I was honestly trying to help someone & I missed the mark so badly. I can’t begin to tell you how ashamed I am of my actions. I was misguided & foolish. I know firsthand what it’s like to be a part of a broken family & my actions (& my actions ONLY) cause that very thing to happen. I would hate to continue the trend in my family that those before me now regret.
I think I had so much trouble walking away from you because I feel something for you. I also want to let you know that you are completely clean as far as any remote possibility of potential repercussions. I will NEVER, EVER EVER hang you out to dry. Your name, location, picture, #, email, all gone & that is the one bit of info I will take to my death. I suppose it’s fortunate for me that she said it would be more hurtful to know. Fortunate is probably the wrong word to use but I can’t think of a better way to phrase it."
-----
The ironic thing about his response, is that he turns it around on me at the end, like I'm the one who needs to worry about *his* actions and that I'm blameless. And that he's protecting me. What a douche and a sociopath.
I am not a vindictive person, I did not want to destroy a family, so I never contacted his wife. I just hope that he never did this again to someone else.
PS - He never told his wife.
I learned this: Much as it sucks to be suspicious or inquisitive about a person or their actions (which is not in my nature), it's necessary. Also, I need to stop ignoring my gut reactions.
---
I know these are sort of melancholy stories, but this is the kind of stuff that happens, truly. Not sure what else to say besides that.
I met the Ring Bearer through match.com. None of his photos really showed his face, except for one where he was reading books to small children at the library (this is not uncommon, when people don't show their faces on dating sites). He lived an hour away, but drove down to go to dinner with me in Seattle. As we chatted, he explained a lot about his background, how he was originally in the seminary and then dropped out and became an atheist and a carpenter (this wasn't lost on me). He bragged that he was in the Rotary Club in the town he lived in. He was involved in his community and he worked a lot. He seemed down to earth and self confident.
He was wearing a ring when we met up and I jokingly asked if he was married, he said no, it was a gift from his mother who had passed away. For some reason I didn't question that. (I'm naive.) He moved the ring to a different finger.
We finish dinner and I head back home. All of a sudden, I get all these freaked out text messages from him. He's lost his ring. He's beside himself, he asks me to look in my purse, etc. He calls me back and tells me he finds it in his car. I keep wondering, why is he getting so upset about the ring, but then didn't give it another thought.
Another two weeks passes and he can't make time to go out, but we talk on the phone, email and text. I'm not sure why I didn't research him on the internet after we went out the first time, he told me he didn't believe in Facebook, and some people don't use it, so I didn't question that. I implicitly trusted him and he seemed sincere. We went out a couple more times and I asked him what his intentions were with seeing me, he told me it could never progress past dating because that wasn't what he wanted from the relationship. I was bummed, but I enjoyed his company, so I figured I would see how it went.
Friday night came and we chatted on the phone, then I was bored and I started looking him up on the internet. What was the first thing I found? A photo of him with his 2 year old and newborn baby. At that point I was more disgusted than upset. I kept searching, found photos of he and his wife, they had been married 7 years or something. They had a baby about 3 months before we met.
I called him out on it and wrote him a long message.
Excerpt from my email to him:
"I am sincerely amazed at how dishonest you are. I can only choose to believe that *every single thing you told me was a lie*. This is incredible; because I was seriously convinced you were different than all the others. Well, you are not. You are worse. More than anything, I can’t fathom why you would do this to your wife and children. Is this the example you want to set for your sons? Your behavior is reprehensible."
Excerpt from his response:
"I will only explain my actions to you if you so desire. I don’t know if you even care or, & no offense to you, would even believe me anyway. I’ll leave that one to you. Other than that I can only say that you are blameless in this whole scenario & any further pain you may feel should be directed to me only. I do hate the fact that I was honestly trying to help someone & I missed the mark so badly. I can’t begin to tell you how ashamed I am of my actions. I was misguided & foolish. I know firsthand what it’s like to be a part of a broken family & my actions (& my actions ONLY) cause that very thing to happen. I would hate to continue the trend in my family that those before me now regret.
I think I had so much trouble walking away from you because I feel something for you. I also want to let you know that you are completely clean as far as any remote possibility of potential repercussions. I will NEVER, EVER EVER hang you out to dry. Your name, location, picture, #, email, all gone & that is the one bit of info I will take to my death. I suppose it’s fortunate for me that she said it would be more hurtful to know. Fortunate is probably the wrong word to use but I can’t think of a better way to phrase it."
-----
The ironic thing about his response, is that he turns it around on me at the end, like I'm the one who needs to worry about *his* actions and that I'm blameless. And that he's protecting me. What a douche and a sociopath.
I am not a vindictive person, I did not want to destroy a family, so I never contacted his wife. I just hope that he never did this again to someone else.
PS - He never told his wife.
I learned this: Much as it sucks to be suspicious or inquisitive about a person or their actions (which is not in my nature), it's necessary. Also, I need to stop ignoring my gut reactions.
---
I know these are sort of melancholy stories, but this is the kind of stuff that happens, truly. Not sure what else to say besides that.
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