The Road of Most Resistance
Joe Concha When it
comes to getting the true feelings of the average guy looking to terminate a relationship,
the best advice to heed is that of The Godfather.
No, not that Godfather
Were talking of none other than Mitch Martin, aka Luke
Wilson, who was dubbed "The Godfather" in the pseudo-classic comedy Old
School of 2003.
In a recent interview with Howard Stern on his Sirius morning
show, Wilson spoke of the tactics that almost every man employs but few speak of when
trying to get out of something thatat least in the guys mindsimply
isnt working anymore.
"Even if I want out, I don't have the guts to just leave,"
the younger Wilson brother explained. "I just start acting really surly and cranky
until they leave me. I don't think anything's over the line when you want out. You see the
fence, and you just start running for it."
When asked how long he has to act like an asshole before a
girlfriend finally dumps him, he said: "Id say you need 90 days. Its
almost like double time, though, because three months feels like six months because
youre so horrible to be with."
Therein lies the difference between men and women when it
comes to confrontation- Women will lay everything out on the line in terms of open, honest
communication when they see the fence Wilson describes, while men always look to end
matters while still maintaining the role of the victim, still looking to not be,
the bad guy.
Women may play the state of the relationship card a bit too
often (some on a daily or at least a weekly basis), but at least the lines of dialogue are
open. Conversely men will do everything in their power to avoid ever having such a painful
conversation, and as a result, one of these three scripts will follow:
Sex is suddenly a foreign concept, likely because the guy
has his eye on someone else which is prompting his whole reasoning for getting out.
The line from Ed Burns Shes The One says
it all. For those who havent seen the movie, the situation is basically this:
Francis (the never-seen-again Mike McGlone), who plays Burns brother Francis, is
cheating on his wife Renee (Jennifer Aniston) with Heather (Cameron Diaz, who never looked
better in any movie than this one). Francis tries to explain to his father the way he is
behaving sexually (as in, not at all) with his wife because of his affair with Heather,
which prompts the following question asked by Dad:
"Let me get this straight. You don't want to cheat on
your girlfriend with your wife?"
Men are a funny bunch of squirrels. On one hand, were
outwardly insensitive. We wear it like a badge of honor. "Nice guys finish last"
was planted in most of our heads somewhere around our sophomore year of High School and
since then we have made a point to act overly confident, cocky, arrogant
because
despite what girls invariably say, that guy is ultimately the kind they prefer to fuck.
Maybe not to open a joint bank account with, but definitely
to get naked with
So while men are ostensibly unfeeling creatures, we do care
about doing the right thing, as warped as the logic may be
like staying with a
girlfriend but sending a not-so-subtle hint that were just not that into her by
cutting off intercourse and especially oral favors.
But in the end, men believe that women who are broken up
abruptly with will either (a) Commit suicide or have a mental breakdown of some form or,
(b) Will tell anyone who will listenand Hoboken is a very small town in some
circlesthat the guy who inexplicitly dumped her is a cold, cruel cocksucker who led
her down the primrose path of great expectations only to throw her away like a losing
lottery ticket.
For guys and particularly under-the-radar players,
maintaining the reputation of being simultaneously conceited and crying-at-the-end-of-Field-of-Dreams-sensitive
is paramount.
"We may have broke up," hell explain,
"but shes the one who ended it."
For future dating prospects, that explanation goes a long way
in gaining sympathy. Besides, most women will believe without hesitation that others of
their gender are primarily bitches if told so by a guy theyre already interested in.
Are you writing all of this down?
He goes from Fun Bobby to surly drunk: When a guy
realizes that he wants out but doesnt have the balls to share those feelings with
his girl, those thoughts tend to manifest themselves when his inhibitions have been
stripped away by 10 glasses of (insert alcohol preference here). Weve all been on
one side of this or another. The guy cant stand to be around his significant other
anymore, so while out with a group or friends or at a party together, hell try to
escape the situation by getting blackout wasted.
The result is predictable from there. Words from the girl will be parsed or
taken out of context, a preconceived fight will go down and the guy will say some nasty
things that hopefully will be offensive enough for her to say, "We need to take a
break/end this/you need to get help." However, the next day (somehow) all will be
forgiven and things will be fine again, much to the unhappy-in-the-relationship guys
chagrin.
He will cheat in public subconsciously hoping to get
caught: Drinking usually plays a role, but lets say a guy with a steady
girlfriend is out at The Madison or Green Rock on a popular Thursday night without said
GF. Hell flirt like he was just released from a prison cell with Boggs from Shawshank
and be more aggressive than he ever was when he was single.
If hes unhappy enough, hell get
sloppy with a hussy at the bar in the pure desire to be seen by someone who knows his
steady. After being confronted, hell either deny it but hope its enough for
her to break it off,or blame being sauced and promise not to do it again (which will
likely not work, or so he expects).
Are there ways of thinking evil?
Weak-kneed?
Perverted?
Uh, yeah
But its the way its been since the beginning of
modern western civilization.
Well lie, well manipulate,
well cheat, well avoid
But will we conduct a simple conversation stating that
were just not that into you?
That would be too complicated, too confrontational. And who
knows if youll throw yourself in front of the 126 Bus the next morning?
Were, like, not taking responsibility for that.
After all, The Godfather says so
Joe Concha is Realhoboken.com's Senior Writer and has
no reason to employ such strategies given the bliss of his current situation. Please email
him with questions and comments at joe.concha@foxnews.com
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