Recovering (?) from a fight in a relationship

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In summary, the conversation revolved around a couple who got into an argument over some harmless things mentioned by friends at dinner. The argument resulted in one person walking out at midnight and ignoring calls, causing the other person to cry and feel upset. They eventually made up, but there is still lingering awkwardness and lack of communication. The person asking for advice is advised to apologize and communicate honestly with their partner. There is also discussion about different types of people in relationships and how they handle conflicts. It is suggested to be honest with oneself and one's partner to avoid future arguments.
  • #36
256bits said:
Well he doesn't say whether he has known her for 2 days, 2 weeks , 2 months. ...
No reference to the depth of their relationship and commitment.
Not knowing ( actually it is irrelevant ) , and the fact that she is complaining about HIS friends, I would trust that your advice is sound and proper. From the little information given ( isn't it always the case ), it would seem as if she is starting a control part rather subtly.
She should be buying him flowers and apologizing to him for her behavior.
Like I said, @ergospherical needs to take her to dinner, one on one. No mates, Italian. Book it not somewhere cheap so she knows you mean business.
Do not mention the argument till she has had her starter or main if possible.
Start apologizing after her first glass of wine is best. Get it out of the way.
Guaranteed 15 minutes from her, don't interrupt that means you want her to stop talking. Take the tears. Arm on her shoulder, you adore this lady yes?
Friday is best she will be more relaxed, lectures finished till Monday as us work.
 
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  • #37
fresh_42 said:
Furthermore, we even already faced a loss of contenance.
OK I initially read this as a loss of continence which pretty well disqualifies me from future input!
I trust @ergospherical has the good sense to proceed carefully and deliberately.
 
  • #38
hutchphd said:
OK I initially read this as a loss of continence which pretty well disqualifies me from future input!
I trust @ergospherical has the good sense to proceed carefully and deliberately.
In a way, it means the same thing, however, in a completely different context. Losing contenance sounds so much better than losing composure or control. Google translate can't even handle it. (I ended up with capacity or version if I make the way through German.)
 
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  • #39
pinball1970 said:
You have put a bit of weight on babe
]
 
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  • #41
morrobay said:
I would say this is her problem. She is reacting irrationally / arguing over harmless things.
You're not necessarily wrong(there's no way for us to interpret and we only have the OP's biased judgement), but what you describe is a recipe for a failed relationship. And even if you/he are correct his reaction was still wrong. OP has to decide if her feelings matter to him or not, and if the answer is no, just make a clean break. Responding with gamesmanship is cruel and counterproductive.
 
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  • #42
256bits said:
Not knowing ( actually it is irrelevant ) , and the fact that she is complaining about HIS friends, I would trust that your advice is sound and proper. From the little information given ( isn't it always the case ), it would seem as if she is starting a control part rather subtly.
She should be buying him flowers and apologizing to him for her behavior.
Maybe. But I once dated a girl who was pretty quiet and the first time my friends met her they reacted by trying to provoke her by being loudmouth jackasses. Her fault?
 
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  • #43
pinball1970 said:
Like I said, @ergospherical needs to take her to dinner, one on one. No mates, Italian. Book it not somewhere cheap so she knows you mean business.
Do not mention the argument till she has had her starter or main if possible.
Start apologizing after her first glass of wine is best. Get it out of the way.
Guaranteed 15 minutes from her, don't interrupt that means you want her to stop talking. Take the tears. Arm on her shoulder, you adore this lady yes?
Friday is best she will be more relaxed, lectures finished till Monday as us work.
That is quite man-centric.

Certainly it takes two to tango.
How the argument started is indeterminate at this point.
It is the continuation though that led to the emotional response of the OP.
To walk away might have been a good thing. The hurtful communication de-escalated immediately.

No responding to her calls might not have been - he could have responded there by saying he needed a break, he is fine, hope she is fine, and we will talk about it later hun. No worries babe.
So, if he wants to apologize it should be over the silent treatment that he gave her - that is the worst bit.

Her mind was probably going crazy, driving her nuts, and I think that is what she resents the most.
[ Could it be she is giving it back the same way to him - game playing perhaps/perhaps not - you, or rather, they decide ]
Not the argument, not who was a winner/looser but being ignored as if she was non-existent.
Not a way to win someone's heart.

[ ever wonder why your mom yelled at you for not calling were you were - typically the same - she was worried about you, and for some the worst that could ever happen goes through their mind -you got hit by a bus and now you are lying in a gutter and need help - not all people are like that but the not knowing if you are safe is the worst ]

Just as an aside,
By the way, if a pattern is introduced such as hurt-apologize-forgive- make up, hurt-apologize-forgive make up, there is a lot of words on potential abusive relationships from either partner that end up being extremely toxic in that regard - perhaps exciting and some can stand it, others can't, for the long term.
 
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  • #44
russ_watters said:
Maybe. But I once dated a girl who was pretty quiet and the first time my friends met her they reacted by trying to provoke her by being loudmouth jackasses. Her fault?
Was she brought out of her shell by that treatment, and brought into feeling that she was the group?
I don't see any fault there yet, unless she objected and they didn't quit.
Then yes they could be labelled as jerks.
 
  • #45
256bits said:
Was she brought out of her shell by that treatment, and brought into feeling that she was the group?
I don't see any fault there yet, unless she objected and they didn't quit.
Then yes they could be labelled as jerks.
That was our last date. No, she didn't appreciate it.
 
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  • #46
hutchphd said:
This entire colloquy has produced an incredulous look on my face...just so you know
I wanted some divorce numbers, some justification for my advice to Ergo

42% divorce rate UK in 50% USA (Average cost UK is £14,561)

20 to 40% of married men and 20 to 25% of married women extra marital affairs

1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men over the age of 18 have been the victim of physical domestic violence

Almost 50% of both sexes have experienced some form of domestic psychological aggression.

Also Studies on filicide, Parricide, femicide and Uxoricide.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/26/femicide-us-silent-epidemic

https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/448033/CCJ_Pre_Published_Holt2017.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5282617/

https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/crime/UN_BriefFem_251121.pdfhttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-56276-0_11
 
  • #47
The divorce date varies a lot depending on economic and social factors. The divorce rate for college graduates is only 30%. I suspect the domestic violence numbers etc are also pretty skewed though I haven't checked.

Besides that, marriage for life is a really high standard. Getting married for twenty five years, raising three kids then splitting amicably is considered a failure, but should it?
 
  • #48
Office_Shredder said:
Besides that, marriage for life is a really high standard. Getting married for twenty five years, raising three kids then splitting amicably is considered a failure, but should it?
It is if you've taken a solemn vow "until death do us part".
 
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  • #49
Office_Shredder said:
The divorce date varies a lot depending on economic and social factors. The divorce rate for college graduates is only 30%. I suspect the domestic violence numbers etc are also pretty skewed though I haven't checked.

Besides that, marriage for life is a really high standard. Getting married for twenty five years, raising three kids then splitting amicably is considered a failure, but should it?
Yes I think that is also the case. If you are poor, on benefits (social) live in an area where there is high crime, low education/aspirations, drugs and gangs then all those negative connotations will be there in those marriages and relationships.

More well off people will do better, a third rather than half get divorced.

30% failure rate, I suppose that's better than every other one?
Would you be ok with a 30% failure rate in your development projects at work? Your research?

Over your career?

This is a question I am thinking about framing and it is nothing to do with divorce rates.
It is to do with my OP to the OP
 
  • #50
I would also argue a high divorce rate is not a good reason for one party to act like a grad A jackass.
 
  • #51
pinball1970 said:
30% failure rate, I suppose that's better than every other one?
This is a silly analysis IMHO For instance, all marriages that do not last "forever" are not failures.
What is the cost benefit analysis? Failures compared to what?? I can't figure out whether this argument is misogyny, general misanthropy, or pro-monasticism. Or what ?
In the long run we're all dead, too.

.
 
  • #52
pinball1970 said:
30% failure rate, I suppose that's better than every other one?
Would you be ok with a 30% failure rate in your development projects at work? Your research?

Over your career?

What percent of people who get a PhD end up with a tenure position? I would guess it's less than half, meaning marriage is a better bet than getting a career in academia under your metric.

Or I don't know
https://www.peta.org/blog/experimen...-done/#:~:text=1.,to lead to human treatments.

Feel free to be skeptical of peta's numbers, but marriage probably has a higher success rate than most scientific research also.

https://www.cappex.com/articles/blo...al four-year graduation,a degree in six years.

Graduating college is another example that doesn't really look better than marriage.

I don't know, you make it out like 50/50 is a terrible rate but people do lots of things in life that don't succeed even half the time, and some of those things are huge investments (go to college, run a pharmaceutical trial).

Happy to move this to another thread to avoid polluting this one
 
  • #53
Office_Shredder said:
What percent of people who get a PhD end up with a tenure position? I would guess it's less than half, meaning marriage is a better bet than getting a career in academia under your metric.

Or I don't know
https://www.peta.org/blog/experiments-on-animals-fail-90-of-the-time-why-are-they-still-done/#:~:text=1.,to lead to human treatments.

Feel free to be skeptical of peta's numbers, but marriage probably has a higher success rate than most scientific research also.

https://www.cappex.com/articles/blog/government-publishes-graduation-rate-data#:~:text=The official four-year graduation,a degree in six years.

Graduating college is another example that doesn't really look better than marriage.

I don't know, you make it out like 50/50 is a terrible rate but people do lots of things in life that don't succeed even half the time, and some of those things are huge investments (go to college, run a pharmaceutical trial).

Happy to move this to another thread to avoid polluting this one
You are ok with 50%? That's fine.
 
  • #54
hutchphd said:
This is a silly analysis IMHO For instance, all marriages that do not last "forever" are not failures.
What is the cost benefit analysis? Failures compared to what?? I can't figure out whether this argument is misogyny, general misanthropy, or pro-monasticism. Or what ?
In the long run we're all dead, too.

.
Analysis? I just just put a few stats in there.

Do you have more rigorous numbers? More recent?
 
  • #55
Vanadium 50 said:
I would also argue a high divorce rate is not a good reason for one party to act like a grad A jackass.
Agreed. Most peopleople getting married probably do not look at the numbers beforehand though.
 
  • #56
The triumph of hope over experience.
 
  • #57
pinball1970 said:
Analysis? I just just put a few stats in there.

Do you have more rigorous numbers? More recent?

I think the latest data shows that in the long run we are still dead.

My question was really what was your point, statistics or not.
 
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  • #58
Just my 2 cents on divorce rates. I have known quite a few people who married, then divorced, and then married again for a much longer period, often for the rest of their lives.

At first I faulted them, but these people were usually much happier with their second spouse than their first. So my take on it now is that it is not always easy to recognize the right person the first time, and it can actually be helpful to acknowledge that and move on. Once you find the right person for you, hang in there, but maybe it is not required to pretend with the wrong person.

So finding your soulmate should perhaps be counted as success, even if it took a couple tries. I realize not everyone will feel this way, and there is also wisdom perhaps in trying hard to make a marriage work, if it can, by trying to mature. I did not start out with this point of view on divorce, but many years of observing my friends and their journeys has brought me here.
 
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  • #59
This ^^^^

It turned out that my first wife was dishonest with me (and her parents) about a fundamental part of her philosophy about having kids. I did not find this out until after we had kids, which was very unfortunate. After the kids were over 18 we divorced (very expensive divorce for me).

I've been very lucky to find my soulmate since then, and we are now very happily married. We both share the same philosophy about raising and nurturing and encouraging the best in our kids and grandkids, which is wonderful.

And to @ergospherical -- I guess all that I can say is to be open and honest in your relationships, and ask for the same in return. Be open to listen to constructive criticism, and be willing to offer the same in the right spirit. When you start linking up with the right potential soulmates, you will find that this approach makes things go much smoother.

(Modulo the hormones that young folks have flowing through their bloodstreams -- that will make this much more challenging for a number of years in your young life...) :smile:
 
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  • #60
berkeman said:
very expensive divorce
As the old joke goes, "Why is divorce so expensive?" "Because it's worth every penny."
 
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  • #61
Vanadium 50 said:
The triumph of hope over experience.
That's the spirit!

One can hope that the 50% that do not get divorced do not include a sizable chunk the 25% that cheat.
 
  • #62
mathwonk said:
Just my 2 cents on divorce rates. I have known quite a few people who married, then divorced, and then married again for a much longer period, often for the rest of their lives.

At first I faulted them, but these people were usually much happier with their second spouse than their first. So my take on it now is that it is not always easy to recognize the right person the first time, and it can actually be helpful to acknowledge that and move on. Once you find the right person for you, hang in there, but maybe it is not required to pretend with the wrong person.

So finding your soulmate should perhaps be counted as success, even if it took a couple tries. I realize not everyone will feel this way, and there is also wisdom perhaps in trying hard to make a marriage work, if it can, by trying to mature. I did not start out with this point of view on divorce, but many years of observing my friends and their journeys has brought me here.
That seems like a lot of effort, meet, mate, marry, divorce and try again.

Some people dedicate their whole life to this filtering process, not necessarily with marriage as a goal to land a permanent partner.
Not perfect partner obviously, there is that 2% you hate but you bite your lip because it rarely shows itself.

Perhaps Ergo (who has fled the scene) will settle into this process and be happy?

My point was, something went wrong somewhere and the process is broken. It is best to avoid it. That is for me.
 
  • #63
hutchphd said:
I think the latest data shows that in the long run we are still dead.

My question was really what was your point, statistics or not.
I made my point early doors.
 
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  • #64
I think we can close this thread now. For its actual purpose, we would need the OP and for general treatment, we would need to buy a new server. (cp. post #32)
 
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