Late Thursday night I picked up a woman from the Fox & Hound who told me she “just had to get out of that bar.” She was having a rough night. I knew this was going to be an interesting 20 minute ride when she told me that night was the first time she had been out with another male friend other than her fiance. See, her fiance, whom she was dating for about 6 years, had just recently called off their wedding – two weeks before they were to get married. She said they had had problems during the 6 years, but they always worked them out. It seems the pressure of tying the knot, pressure from families on both sides, and the commitment itself was too much for him. I told her to count her blessings that he may not have followed his heart until well after they were married. Nothing worse than living a lie and knowing you don’t want to get married, but you do it anyway. It would be so much harder and more heartbreak to divorce than just to call off the wedding. She seemed to agree. She appreciated a listening ear and reassuring words that she said, were like being with her therapist. 🙂
Twenty-four hours later, a different scenario. I arrived on scene in Fairmount to see a clearly angry and frustrated guy gathering bags, backpack, and clothes hamper to start loading up my car. All the while, a 20-something woman standing by observing. Just observing. He’s pissed now because he can’t find his keys. As he gets the last of his stuff and walks towards my car, she says to him, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” Wow. I don’t say anything. It’s clear what’s going on. He sits fuming in the back as I head to his destination near Fishtown. Half-way there, I couldn’t quite understand what he says, but he had just added a stop on the ride. Looking at the both destinations, I ascertained – drop off stuff somewhere, then hit bar. Bingo! After we arrived at his first stop, he asked me to wait (of course!) while he offloaded his stuff. It was only after we left this first stop that he started a conversation. I told him that (the scene) didn’t look good. He then told me about all the things leading up to the fight with his girlfriend, how she was yelling at him in front of her building, punched him in the chest, with neighbors upstairs peering down at the scene. Apparently, several things had set him off – one being that he had lost his $200 prescription sunglasses and she didn’t seem concerned about that at all. Apparently, sunglasses was a touchy item for him because she had lost several pairs of his sunglasses previously. Unlike the story from last night, at least they were not about to get married. He did say that if they got back together that he was making up new ground rules. Sunglasses are no. 1.