veritas and balderdash

I know that my past few posts have been rather serious, and perhaps even depressing to some people, and that’s not my intention. I write about the things that are relevant in my life, and maybe it means something to someone else, and maybe it’s just drivel. For me, it’s a way of organizing my thoughts and blowing off steam. Today though, I thought I’d share a little bit of insight as to why I am single, and have given up on ever having a serious, long-term relationship. No names will be provided, nor will there be dates, so the men in question can remain happily anonymous (and/or oblivious). We call this “I knew [the relationship] was over when…” And yes, every single item below is absolutely true. I knew it was over when:

• He told me that he couldn’t see me next weekend, because he was going to be in a wedding that weekend. His own.
• He broke up with me because spending time with me was keeping him away from hanging out with his friends
• I came home from work sick, and found him in bed with my then-best friend
• He told me that he could tell that I was becoming an alcoholic because I went out and had a glass of wine with friends after work
• (the ugly one here) He shoved me into a wall and told me that I was a waste of space
• He went off to college in another state, without letting me know until he was moved into his new dorm
• He decided that he would rather get shot at as a government contractor in Kuwait than be with me
• He called me from jail and asked if I could bail him out. And also his girlfriend. After they were arrested for having sex in public.
• He started talking to me in babytalk
• He told me that if I really loved him, I’d get rid of my cat
• He lied to me about graduating high school

I could go on, but I’ll cut it short for now. The funny thing (to me) is that I warn men up-front that I am very difficult to deal with.  I’m pretty darn close to being a Type A personality (or whatever the current terminology is) and I have extremely high standards as far as basic cleanliness and manners and, well, honesty. I don’t think I’m unreasonable to expect that if you make a huge mess in my kitchen, that you wash the dishes, or at least stack them in the dishwasher. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to wipe down the counters when something sticky gets spilled on them. I just want to be treated with respect.