# Give me one reason why your ex is your ex. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2005, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092 "2005-09-11T11:35:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/41 "2005-09-11T16:49:10Z")
She developed a strong preference for happier, more upbeat people. With vaginas. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/42 "2005-09-11T16:49:37Z")
1. Tried to strangle me while I held our 9 month old daughter. 2. Adultery, alcoholism, and general assholery. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/43 "2005-09-11T16:58:07Z")
1. Still don’t really know. She just felt we didn’t work. Though we are still good friends. 2. She cheated on me. 3. She cheated on me. 4. I wasn’t emotionally available, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/44 "2005-09-11T17:04:48Z")
She was a _heifer._ A heifer! ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/45 "2005-09-11T17:14:31Z")
Slob elevated to art form. I’m gone for a week on business and when I come home, all the dishes are piled in the sink, trash is piled next to the can and the full bag never made it to the curb which was an arduous journey of 50’, and her papers sat in piles _everywhere_ yet nothing could be thrown away, as they all _needed to be gone through_. Lather, rinse and repeat. I got tired of running a business and being a maid for her and my then stepson who never was worth a pinch of owl shit. Zat enuf? ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/46 "2005-09-11T17:14:38Z")
He was an overly-emotional (almost to the point of co-dependency) dope-smoking loser. Not that all dope-smokers are losers - but when you smoke dope every single day and that’s why you got expelled from school and can’t get any job better than gas station attendant or pizza-shop worker and live at home at the age of 22, you have a problem. Plus, I met my husband-to-be! ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/47 "2005-09-11T17:16:35Z")
He finally realized what I already knew: we weren’t meant to be together, so it was time. It was two days ago. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/48 "2005-09-11T17:20:35Z")
Because we both changed. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/49 "2005-09-11T17:58:33Z")
She left me for another man. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/50 "2005-09-11T18:27:12Z")
Why am I not with my ex? I went to a meeting of people from her church. A large meeting including persons with whom she was not intimately familiar and some persons she was close to. During discussions guided by her preacher, she answered his questions and mentioned having been sexually abused by her grandfather. Twice. In response to questions where childhood sexual abuse was not relevant as an answer. I have sympathy for persons who’ve sufferred at the hands of others, but I decided that I was looking at being a boyfriend, not a social worker, so this wasn’t for me. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/51 "2005-09-11T18:50:30Z")
He vanished without a trace. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/52 "2005-09-11T18:51:51Z")
I met someone new and kinky. ---
**Author:** ![Tamryne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tamryne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamryne)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/53 "2005-09-11T18:53:31Z")
He decided that he was just going to do whatever I wanted to do. We were in high school and his only goal in life was to go to the same college that I wanted to go to and move in together. Plus, he was very, very clingy. Clingy to the point that at a family reunion i dragged him to he kept trying to get me to sit in his lap… not good infront of half of the extended family. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/54 "2005-09-11T18:55:52Z")
The most recent ex (boyfriend) is my ex because he and _his_ ex (wife) have a completely fucked up, codependent relationship (seriously: his therapist even told him that it’s fucked up). ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/55 "2005-09-11T18:57:06Z")
She was a manic-depressive trust-fund-baby that needed serious medication. That and I suspect I didn’t pass muster with her Bank’s Board of directors. :rolleyes: In retrospect, having that ‘you’re just with me for the money’ arguement, my response wasn’t sufficiently conclusive enough for her: “No matter WHAT I say to you, 10 years from now you could rationalize I stayed or left for the money.” ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/56 "2005-09-11T19:03:29Z")
She started sleeping with one of my best friends. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/57 "2005-09-11T19:05:37Z")
There were many, many reasons, but the one big reason was that he wanted me to be a different person. He didn’t like things about me that I don’t want to change. He didn’t like the quirky things that make me who I am. So now he’s married to someone normal, and I can be as weird as I want to be. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/58 "2005-09-11T19:09:14Z")
She likes women _in that way_ more than I do and I like guys more than she does. We’re still friends. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/59 "2005-09-11T19:17:37Z")
She was unhappy – depression, anxiety, low-self esteem. We’re still friends, but unfortunately she is still unhappy for the same reasons. Meds have helped her through the worst times, but she lives a very marginal life. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092/60 "2005-09-11T19:41:12Z")
Different reasons, different guys. Here’s a sampling of reasons that I’m no longer with some of the guys that I’ve been with. Guy 1: He was unbelievably controlling and possessive. Not to mention that he was also manipulative and a total mama’s boy. Guy 2: He was kind of dim and lacked any kind of ambition. I got tired of having to work to keep conversation going. Guy 3: He liked taking care of me when I was sick, but, strangely enough, didn’t seem all that happy to see me get well. Guy 4: We wanted very different kinds of lives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/give-me-one-reason-why-your-ex-is-your-ex/321092.md?page=4)