# Adultery Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347 "2010-11-03T17:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/21 "2010-11-03T19:47:41Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Only if she’s watching the replay on the camera. But she gave it three stars out of five! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/22 "2010-11-03T19:56:59Z")
I love my SO, but I don’t cheat because I respect myself. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/23 "2010-11-03T20:07:36Z")
I haven’t, am not, and never would. It’s… dishonorable, for lack of a better word. I couldn’t live with myself if I broke the trust of a person I had loved or did love in that way. I end things completely with a relationship before I get involved with another person, and consider the inability of so many to do so a weakness and a moral failing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/24 "2010-11-03T20:07:51Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Only if she’s watching the replay on the camera. Please define “cheating”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/25 "2010-11-03T20:08:39Z")
I checked “I haven’t cheated because I love my significant other,” but I would add, “and because I made a holy vow not to.” ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/26 "2010-11-03T20:09:08Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I will die before I cheat on my wife. Ooh, “Saw V, the Temptation of Skald” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/27 "2010-11-03T20:14:52Z")
As a callow youth, I would have cheated if the opportunity had arisen. But it hasn’t and I haven’t. Nowdays, I would not dare too risk a relationship on a momentary pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/28 "2010-11-03T20:43:32Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I love my SO, but I don’t cheat because I respect myself. Can you explain what you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/29 "2010-11-03T20:48:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But she gave it three stars out of five! In most schools 60% is a D and not passing. Sounds like she caught your cheatin’ ass. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/30 "2010-11-03T20:50:06Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > In most schools 60% is a D and not passing. Sounds like she caught your cheatin’ ass. That depends on your definition of “cheating”, which is…? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/31 "2010-11-03T20:50:18Z")
I hadn’t lived with my husband for six months, we hadn’t had sex for over a year and a half and were in the process of divorcing; I had some “dates.” Not sure what my answer should be. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/32 "2010-11-03T21:05:34Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I will die before I cheat on my wife. I would die soon afterward, when she killed me for it. But seriously, that is something I’ve never seriously considered. I love my wife and take my vows seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_a\_Platypus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Not\_a\_Platypus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_a_Platypus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/33 "2010-11-03T21:57:53Z")
I’ve briefly fantasized about another person or two, but nothing more than that. If the people I’ve fantasized about ever offered more than that, I’d say no. I don’t consider cheating to be an option; if my relationship gets to the point where I truly want to sleep with other people without my SO involved, it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/34 "2010-11-03T22:01:00Z")
I was with someone for 12 years when our relationship began to falter. I was _very_ tempted to cheat and was actually minutes away from the act when I stopped myself, went home, and confessed my intentions. I just couldn’t live with myself and the thought that I was about to do to someone I cared about what had been done to me. We ended the relationship a few weeks later – after counseling – but I feel strong in the conviction that I never cheated and was honest about everything, regardless of the consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/35 "2010-11-03T22:08:42Z")
I voted that I’ve thought about it. Who hasn’t? You forgot to add the choice “I wouldn’t do it because she’d freaking kill me in my sleep if she ever found out”, which she would. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/36 "2010-11-03T22:44:26Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Never cheated, would never consider it, have declined invitations. I’m just like **Dio**. Well, in this case anyway. 🙂 > [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > I hadn’t lived with my husband for six months, we hadn’t had sex for over a year and a half and were in the process of divorcing; I had some “dates.” Not sure what my answer should be. I’d suggest you’re clear. In order to cheat there has to be an expectation of fidelity. It seems to me that expectation would be gone once the divorce was filed and you were already under different roofs. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/37 "2010-11-03T23:53:29Z")
I don’t believe that fantasizing about other partners constitutes any kind of cheating. It’s natural and normal. Who among us (besides perhaps asexual people) has \*\*never \*\*fantasized about another person than the one we’re with? I am wholly against lying in any form. Cheating is a form of lying, so I would never do it. But I’m also shying away from exclusive relationships these days. As long as everybody involved is fully-informed and not deluded, there’s no problem. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/38 "2010-11-04T00:23:40Z")
I have cheated on myself. I have also fantasized about every sexy member of the SDMB. You know who you are. I have lusted in my heart. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/39 "2010-11-04T00:42:07Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Can you explain what you mean? Cheatiing would reflect on me, on my ethics and integrity, more than it would ever reflect on my love for my partner. I want to do the right thing because it’s the right thing and it feels right, not because I am making or keeping someone else happy. > [@rachelellogram](#): > > I don’t believe that fantasizing about other partners constitutes any kind of cheating. It’s natural and normal. Who among us (besides perhaps asexual people) has \*\*never \*\*fantasized about another person than the one we’re with? _raises hand_ I don’t fantasize about real people with the exception of the one I’m involved with. Don’t know why, but I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347/40 "2010-11-04T01:53:02Z")
So. I was a serial cheater but I never cheated on Marcie; she is probably the only SO I ever had that I didn’t cheat on. I don’t have an SO now, so I ain’t cheating now. I doubt I would cheat in the future but I also doubt I’ll ever have another SO. Most of my cheating was done on the road with women who were also cheating. It was all a game to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adultery-poll/559347.md?page=3)