I had a conversation recently with a Vietnam vet, I actually have a lot of conversations often with a lot of different vets. One of them told me one time that it wasn’t the killing that haunted him as much as how easily he could kill, he said sometimes he feels like he is only masquerading as a human. This particular man is a fine man who has rasied a fine family but continues to suffer.
Me? I’m pretty desperate. She could tell me that she’s a serial killer currently and there’s a good chance she’ll snap and eviscerate me at any second and I’d still give it a shot.
If I was slightly less pathetic I’d leg it right then, first because I would keep on thinking of the people she’s killed, especially the young kids she just talked about. Also I’ve seen enough movies to know that I’m bound to be captured by her former bosses, tortured, killed gruesomely and left there for her to find me and go all “Nooooooooo!” before she goes out for revenge.
Awesome question!
If I was already in love or at least liked her very much, I’d continue to feel the same way and go onward with the relationship.
Her refusal to sleep in the same bed sounds like an odd tidbit to throw in there. It isn’t a problem to me. In fact, I’d offer her the bed and sleep on the sofa myself.
The real question is whether I’d have the guts to leave her if her past disturbed me or my interest in her was more mild. The answer is no; I’d be scared shitless and just go along with it until she lost interest or we die of old age. Not a bat’s chance in my washing machine that I’d cross her!
No. I couldn’t be with a woman who was comfortable with the idea of killing people.
How about pimps and human trafficers?
That’s what I was thinking. You know honestly if they are killing innocent people as opposed to other thugs, I still see hitmen as being a bit worse than sex traffickers. Both are scum of the earth though. I just had the misfortune of seeing photos of a Mexican gang writing their gang name with the intestines of somebody they dismembered. Can’t get much sicker than that. :eek:
I have a little more time here, so I thought I’d expand on my idea.
One of my requirements for continuing the relationship was going to therapy and future behavior. In particular, Chris’s statement that she wouldn’t share the details because neither of us would sleep after that… well, that’s not gonna fly. We’re going to talk about all those details with the therapist.
I can live with the idea of Chris as bad-guy-killer-for-hire; that’s not so different from the idea of marrying someone in the military, which I could handle. So neither the killing nor the money idea are automatic deal-breakers. However, I’m not going to live in ignorance and I’m not going to live with someone who can’t come to terms with their past. Denial is not a solution and if I’m living with an unstable person of questionable morality, I’m not going to feel safe. If Chris isn’t willing to pursue therapy or isn’t honest there, we’re done. If the details revealed in therapy suggest that Chris is not actually a bad-guy-killer, but was merely for-hire, then we’ll probably be done there too. Also, if it turns out that Chris is just a psycho/sociopath, then we’ll probably need to be done too.
(And, yes, some of these “we’re done” statements might lead to me getting whacked when I leave… but that’s all the more reason to try to get out now instead of later. It won’t get easier.)
Chris must have amnesia. He didn’t actually kill the Wombosi family.
Yes, given the phrasing of the hypo, I could continue the relationship. But I would insist that Chris get counseling, and I would walk - nay, run - as soon as I ever felt in any danger from her.
And the poll should’ve included butterscotch topping as an option, dammit!
I think hot fudge is tricky for a picnic. I have never considered peanut butter an ice cream topping, but I acknowledge your wisdom and will try it at my earliest opportunity.
Now that I know the truth, perhaps Chris will stay the night in bed. I really hope he’s not a blanket hog, that’s a deal breaker right there.
Will no one think of poor Dexter? 
He’d just have to work at that. I think showing up on his knees in the rain a few times, with his head hung in contrition, might help her get past the panic. Or he could write her a letter, I’m not fussy.
Those of us who believe in justice, vengeance and getting the bastard.
Sure I do. I meant off himself now.
They’re pretty bad too. Well, not the kind of pimp who’s just a professional business manager, but I don’t know how common that is. But yeah, those others, I don’t like them either. Not quite as bad as killers for hire, but pretty close.
I have the same requirement with both girlfriends and dogs. If they suddenly turn psycho I need to be able to take them in a fight. So no rottweilers and no action movie Chris.
Hahahaha! I’m gonna remember this for a while 
Just so you don’t put down the wrong one. :eek:
Thinking about the subject made me think of the old Norm MacDonald bit.
The issue of it being very similar to being in the military is what gives me pause, since I’d never once considered not being with someone who had been in the military. But the danger inherent in this woman’s life is enough that I would never feel safe. That’s the big difference I see.
I mean, what is being in the military but being told to shoot these people who are bad guys? I guess there’s the added aspect that they would kill you, too, but you know that going in. Well, I guess maybe you were young and naive and didn’t realize that, buying all the patriotic hype without considering the moral implications.
It sucks that my choice involves punishing someone who is truly remorseful for their own actions, though. But I guess that is sometimes necessary.
Heh. Was it the last episode of Sherlock that gave you this idea, Skald? John, after a great deal of thought, decided to stay with Mary despite her history as a professional killer.
Seemingly going against the tide of popular opinion in this thread.
Doctor Watson is not necessarily a nice man.
I could date Spenser but I don’t think I could date Hawk. I could trust him to keep his word to me but I don’t think I could trust him to have my best interests at heart. And we probably wouldn’t agree about what those interests would be.
Also, point of order, a proper Fourth of July sundae needs red, white & blue at a minimum. Sparklers, optional.
There’s no such thing as a professional killer that only kills bad guys. Actually, there’s no such thing as a movie-style professional killer. I mean, there are guys who have jobs that involve killing. But there isn’t anyone sitting in a hotel waiting for a guy to come by with a plane ticket, a name, and a suitcase full of money. If Tony Soprano wants someone whacked, he doesn’t call up some guy in a hotel and offer him a suitcase full of money, he tells his trusted buddies that so-and-so is a problem and needs to be handled. It is part of a mafioso’s job to kill people that his boss finds inconvenient, but his job is “mafioso”, not “professional killer”. Of course some mafia dudes develop a specialty, but even then they aren’t freelance assassins, they’re part of organized crime.
And yeah, there are mercenaries roaming around various parts of the world. They aren’t freelance either, who take jobs to kill bad guys. They are hired thugs who kill whoever their boss needs killed.
Anyway, I’m fighting the hypothetical. Such a person doesn’t exist, and to the extent that people sort-of like them do exist, they aren’t prone to existential crises. They’re sociopaths who either enjoy the work or are just dead inside and killing means nothing to them. They don’t wake up one morning and realize that murdering the fuck out of people is wrong.