Seriously, Men??!

A few months ago, Slinky went on a disastrous date with a man who was full of himself and generally a jerk. Later, it came out that on top of these charming qualities he was also married, or used to be married, or may have been married -- the details were unclear. It also crossed my mind once or twice to wonder whether Le Canadien may have been in a relationship; there was no particular reason for me to think that, but it did occur to me. However, I pooh-poohed the notion because online dating -- especially in a small town like Boston -- is a small, small world. Sooner or later, you WILL see someone you know. They WILL tell your girlfriend, wife, or significant other. It's really not a question of if, but when.

Apparently, that's a risk some sleazy, foolhardy men are willing to take. This evening, the Cat Lady came over and regaled me and Slinky with a tale about a woman she met randomly who started talking about a new man she's dating who she met online. Gradually, as the Cat Lady listened to the details, the man began to sound familiar: it was the husband of an acquaintance of hers. Even worse, the man has OFFSPRING. There are many other sordid details -- the fake name he was using, the unprotected sex (way to bring an extra special gift home to your wife, jerk) -- but really, isn't that enough?

Wow. This opens up a whole new world of unsavory possibilities. How many men out there are doing this? Have I dated married men? How long are they able to get away with it? I think Slinky put it very nicely when we debriefed after the shocking revelation: "Isn't it amazing? They can't even be bothered to send a quick note to let you know that they're not interested, yet they go to such crazy lengths to sneak around, create double lives and cheat on their wives."

And on that depressing note, Persil and I are off on vacation. I won't be blogging for the next week or so; I'll be too busy doing this: