For most of us, a relationship is a source of support, comfort, and love. Unfortunately, people change or, even worse, get comfortable enough to reveal who they are. The lesson is that you can’t trust someone just because you think you know them.
A woman turned to the internet for advice when her husband broke the somewhat shocking revelation that he had considered cheating on her due to her weight gain. Readers were quick to call out the husband, reassure OP, and provide her with whatever support and suggestions that they could.
Faithfulness is a given in most relationships
Image credits: Kristina Paukshtite / pexels (not the actual photo)
But one woman was shocked to learn that her husband had considered cheating
Image credits: Andres Ayrton / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: hopefulfatgirl
The husband’s activities are almost textbook manipulation
There is no getting around the fact that arguing that you resisted doing a bad thing doesn’t actually make you a good person. No one deserves praise for not committing various crimes throughout the day, so why exactly should this man think his little strategy is worth anything? The only silver lining is that it pretty clearly revealed the fact that he is, at heart, a manipulator.
This is also visible due to the fact that OP doesn’t seem to even realize what is happening and has turned to the internet for advice. Generally, this is the goal of many manipulators, to throw off someone’s understanding of the situation and “gaslight” them into thinking they might be in the wrong.
“Classically” a manipulator would do their best to isolate the person from friends and family so that they don’t have an outside opinion to help them escape or understand what is happening. Unfortunately, for the husband, in this day and age, unless one reverts to an Amish-style life, most people have access to millions of strangers online at any given time.
Making up bizarre stories instead of helping is a red flag
This, hopefully, helped OP realize just how bizarre her husband’s words and ideas were. On the surface, it is possible to somewhat understand where he is coming from. Attraction is often quite physical, so it’s not impossible to imagine a situation where he is no longer physically attracted to his wife.
However, instead of communicating that, making a plan, or just being honest, he has resorted to some bizarre guilt trip where he is suddenly a good guy for not cheating. Given just how weird and horrible this sounds, it’s also entirely possible that he made the whole scenario up, as it sounds like something out of a cheap rom-com and not real life.
A few readers even call OP out for even doubting herself, as the husband’s actions should have been enough to dump him on the stop. Obviously, leaving a relationship is never easy, but staying with a person who wants a pat on the back for not breaking every vow is pretty close to a worst-case scenario.
OP deserves a better life than one with this man
After all, losing weight isn’t exactly impossible, particularly with a support system. Indeed, given that this is pregnancy-related, it’s pretty clear that this husband is more used-diaper than man and does not deserve to have his strange, manipulative stories listened to for even a moment. If he wanted to help his wife, he would.
Instead, he lies, manipulates, and seems to already do very little around the house. Perhaps OP could concoct a story where she felt “tempted” to not do the housework he doesn’t help with, but she “persevered” and did it anyway. Unfortunately, the irony would no doubt be lost on him.
Readers shared some thoughts, suggestions, and reactions
