Relationships require compromise and a little give and take, because no one is perfect. Your significant other left the toilet seat up? Irritating. Your partner doesn’t think “Year 3000” by The Jonas Brothers is a lyrical masterpiece of the early 2000’s? Debatable. Your boyfriend or girlfriend called you fat? Begone vile villain, I have seen the light. Shakespeare was right when he said “love is blind,” however, he forgets to mention that love also decapitates you. After a relationship has run its course, we realize every unpleasantry previously swept under the rug. Post-breakup perspective provokes us to think: What on earth was I thinking?
Compiled here are various accounts of what real people have put with.
1. “I dated a guy who made me drive him to school every single day just so he could leave and go get high with his friends” (Sara, 19).
Next time, just Uber.
2. “I dated a guy who told me his dad was dead…. his dad is not dead. Not even close” (Alexis, 21).
Imagine how awkward Thanksgiving was.
3. “I dated a boy who refused to delete Tinder” (Lexi, 20).
Everyone, and I mean everyone, deserves to be treated with more respect and decency. Happy swiping, you lonely and presently single infidel.
4. “I dated a guy who was basically Dean from this season of Bachelor in Paradise… “ (Anonymous).
Super charming, attractive, funny, loving, the whole package, and it all happened so fast, but he still had feelings for someone else (his ex-girlfriend). He ended up trying to go back to her and hasn’t spoken a word to me since. A word to the wise: if the person you’re dating still has a foot in somebody else’s boat, even if they tell you they love you and that you are better than the other person, DROP THEM BEFORE THEY DROP YOU, HONEY (Anonymous).
Moral of the story: those resembling Bachelor contestants cannot be trusted and getting involved with anyone not over an ex is bad news brewing.
5. “I dated a guy who said if I didn’t shave my arms he would break up with me” (Sarah, 19).
This guy sounds like he vapes.
6. “I dated a guy who wouldn’t use the AC in his car because it ‘used too much gas'” (Anonymous).
I’m sure his car stays running from his inflated ego and everything else he’s compensating for, am I right ladies?
7. “I dated a guy who waited until I was super emotionally invested in him months after we started dating to tell me he cheated on me the first week of our relationship because he was scared I would leave him” (Ali, 20).
Ah, self-destruction at its finest.
8. “I dated a guy in high school who wouldn’t let me wear yoga pants or leggings to school” (Anonymous).
Written in the holy doctrine of “Who Do You Think You Are?” the first page discloses that leggings are in fact pants, and women don’t require permission to dress themselves.
9. “In high school, I dated a guy who was extremely needy and had a lot of dependency issues that he dumped on me” (Anonymous).
He would tell me that he would commit suicide if I ever left him. That kind of emotional abuse is way too much pressure for a young relationship to handle, and I had to remind myself that I needed to be able to take [care] of myself first before I could take care of him. I also just got out of a year and a half long relationship. It was actually a healthy relationship with a healthy breakup, we simply realized that we were no longer helping each other be our best selves. Sometimes it’s okay to be selfish and focus on yourself, especially when you know there isn’t a long term future. As soon as you’re no longer happy when you’re around your SO, that’s when it’s time to put your needs first.
Relationships should be a mutual exchange of love and support. We should not feel guilty for putting ourselves first if our counterpart no longer provides that, even if they manipulate us to feel otherwise. Breaking away from toxic relationships can hurt initially, but post-breakup perspective exposes the crucial flaws and reminds us how we deserve to be treated.