People like me

A joy of writing 200 blog entries in the past 9 months (yes, what I did instead of gestating a child) is that, now, I find articles all the time much like something I've already written. Every possible essay topic will eventually be explored in someone's online diary and if you don't get there first....it's a rehash.

OK. So if you've been with me for even half of these monologues, you know the saga of The CFO:

Somewhat Older Craiglist Respondee
turned River Gods Great Date
turned Even Better Kisser
turned Casual Boyfriend for 2 Months
turned Disappearing Act in September
turned Back Up in October But with Girlfriend and Looking for an Open Relationship
turned Totally Ignored By Me and, finally,
turned Back Up in January with Girlfriend Moving to Africa and Looking to See Me Again if I wanted to see him.

(Which by the way, for those of you unhappy with my choice to consider it....well, still considering. We haven't gone out yet, but exchanged texts on Inauguration Day vowing to get together to celebrate. And that's the latest.)

I struggled when the CFO came forward with the open relationship proposition, even though I originally accepted him as a man who saw other women. Which is why it took me months to get back to him. When he then replied, in apology, he talked about how he too struggled....even though he thought he knew what he wanted for us (casual), for him and his girlfriend (open), for himself (fancy free). Even though all parties had agreed to the terms. This line stuck out:

"What I've learned and continue to learn is that any sort of open relationship or non-monogamous situation is an emotional land mine and there aren't any maps!"

Right or wrong, approved or disapproved of, mapless is certainly a way many of us make our way from day to day. I empathized. Which is why the situation still exists.

While trolling the Times during mid-afternoon procrastination hour today, I encountered this column published last Sunday under the category of "Modern Love". Katherine Ruppe found her a man the equivalent of my CFO: The Engineer. Except that her story involves Moby concerts, Las Vegas trysts, and a phone showdown with the Other Woman revealing the existence of the Other Woman's Husband and Other Woman's Husband's Girlfriend.

Katherine did not empathize with this drama. It's juicy, and makes the CFO look like Ward Cleaver. Enjoy.