European Vacation: Relationship Ender?
Maybe he's a jerk. Or maybe she's psychotic. A new viral video asks us to take sides.
It's a classic case of "He said, she said" that's led to heated conversations all over the internet.
The short version: Boy leaves town for a couple weeks. Girl doesn't realize he's gone and devolves into a psychotic mess. Psychology of Attraction
The long version: JD posts a video on the internet that claims his girlfriend, Em, was "great in many respects," but "not the world's greatest listener." The video recounts, first, how he often talked about his upcoming trip to Europe in her presence and second, how she forgot he was leaving, freaked out once he was gone, and sent many emails relaying said freaked out feelings to him.
Dated and juxtaposed alongside photos of where he was when each message was sent, the emails go from curious ("Tried calling your cell a few times today but it kept going straight to voicemail. You're not screening me, are you?") to hurt ("I waited all night for you to get in touch with me") to angry ("What the f*** is going on?! Why are you avoiding me?") to stern ("We're through. Don't call me, don't text me") to vengeful ("Remember that friend of mine...you were jealous of...well I f***ed him to show you"). Her last email, written after running into his mother and being reminded that JD was in Europe, begs him to delete all the previous emails ("We've all made mistakes while you were away. I can explain it all to you, call me ASAP"). In the end, JD says he dumped her.
Since being posted, thousands of people have watched the video and most who've left comments are taking sides.
On the pro-Em side, the comments include such understanding assertions as: "Anyone get the feeling he didn't do a very good job of telling her he was going to be away for two weeks?" and "I think the very important lesson you should have learned was to not go two weeks without checking your email if your phone is turned off. Europe has the internet." "Honey, Your Husband Is A Jerk"
The pro-JD comments, on the other hand, range from expressions of dismay ("Truly, amazing she never takes into consideration the possibility that something maybe happened to him") to messages of hate ("I hope he shoveled s*** on that b****'s face after that").
Indeed, it's hard not to empathize when you feel someone has been wronged.
Still, we can't help but wonder: Is the video even telling the truth? Did things actually happen as JD describes them or is he, in fact, a worse communicator than Em is a listener? It is possible that the video was posted with the hopes of inciting hatred toward women in general and ex-girlfriends in particular (the intro on Buzzfeed reads: "I cannot believe men put up with women, ever, no really")? Or could it be that this is all just a joke?
Check out the video, and let us know what you think.
Discussion
She does sound crazy, but I couldn't really take a side with this until hearing her part of the story. I don't see how he could go 2 weeks without getting in touch with her at lest once in some way, and if she was friends with his Mom then I'm surprised she didn't call Mom first to find out if he was alright.
For now I'll keep the fence warm.
That's what I mean about the generations. I can imagine being on a two-week vacation and not trying to get in touch with a boyfriend/girlfriend (though a wife is different, of course!). You might not be near a phone or the long distance call might not be affordable. E-mail didn't exist. So the only thing you could do was send a letter or postcard. That was a sign of true love, but you might not even get the letter before your honey came back. Even not sending a letter could be forgiven if the traveller got busy or weren't sure what to say.
Of course, the girlfriend thought her guy was at home and just not answering her calls for some mysterious reason. Another generational difference - if I'd wanted to screen my calls I would have had to answer the phone and pretend I was someone else. So if your honey never answered the phone for a few days, you would have assumed that either something was wrong with the phone, the guy was dying, or the guy wasn't at home.
I get what you're saying. I grew up right alongside AOL and emailing, but i didn't really start doing that until my early 20s. Now I'd rather email than call most times, but that is only for work. I still write letters and send them the snail mail way occasionally as they are always fun, but I can't imagine not speaking with my GF at least once while I away for a couple weeks, and I'd definitely be sending postcards.
She sounds insane, even if he didn't tell her where he was going.
My reaction is probably coming from the un-connected generation where you couldn't always reach someone. And if you were worried about someone, you tried other ways to reach them like going to their house or calling a friend.
