Dear Abby: I’m Sick Of My Friend Always Venting About Her Marriage
Oh tell me about it.
(The letter to “Dear Abby” about this topic is farther below. I wanted to say a few words about this situation before getting directly to the letter itself.)
I had a friend a few years ago who always complained about her husband.
First, it was because his job drove him away, then when he got back home, she got peeved by his quirks, or she complained when the Christmas present he got her was too practical and not “romantic” enough for her tastes.
I gently reminded her a time or two during all her years of griping about her husband that I was a single lady who’d like to be married, even if my spouse was occasionally annoying, as hers was (a slightly annoying husband is better than NO husband at all, in my perspective), but she kept right on with the complaining about her spouse.
It was so irritating to be a single lady wanting to get married having to listen to a woman gripe all the time about her husband.
Then, I once had a friend who got married in a civil ceremony, then she (about a year later) had a church ceremony, and she was thrilled. She would NOT SHUT UP about her husband and how great marriage was. I also gently reminded her, “I’m single and cannot even get a boyfriend.”
In other words, if you are a married lady, try not to go to either extreme in front of your single lady friend who wants a man and cannot get one: don’t bitch and moan about your man all the time – you sound ungrateful, and it’s annoying – and, if you are happily married, I don’t need to hear about that constantly, either.
The occasional husband-mention to your single lady friend is FINE, but I’m talking about women who bring it up in almost every conversation.
Edit. Upon reflection, and after reading other opinions on the other site about this letter – it’s possible that the LW (Letter Writer) is the one in the wrong.
The LW admits to Abby that her friend was really there for her during the years after her husband died.
Now that the friend is the one in need, LW is reluctant to give her emotional support, which does make LW sound like she’s selfish and self-absorbed and horrible.
The LW got what she needed from her friend, but now that LW is happy with her new boyfriend, she does not want to return the emotional support to the friend that the friend once gave her.
You know, if LW’s new boyfriend dumps her, and she finds herself sad about it, you bet that the friend is the first person she will want to phone to gripe about it and to receive emotional support.
So, in a way, it is rather hypocritical of LW not to want to give the friend support at this time.
(Link): Dear Abby: I’m sick of my friend always venting about her marriage
DEAR ABBY:
I lost my husband of 45 years three years ago.
My longtime friend, “Grace,” was very supportive and included me in family dinners and outings so I wouldn’t be alone.
A year ago, I moved away to start a new life for myself.
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