I'm at the Pride Parade, which is frequented by plenty of straight people - but this is a special year with the recent Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage so we're all over the place this year.
So one of the people at my table is a guy I worked with for many years at a hotel. We've known each other for over 20 years. During that time this guy has dated a lot of women - never got married. We'll call him Ed. Ed has been working in hotels since back in the day and he has a very stable position, hospitality has always been his thing.
So, another friend sits down and asks him about his old girlfriend - they just broke up right after Easter. We'll call her Donna. He had a nice girl that he was dating, named Monica, but he let that go. Everything else since then has been a disaster, in my mind - but it's not up to me, so I don't go into that again.
So, anyway - Ed proceeds to announce that Donna is getting married - to some other guy. So, before I can stop myself, or think to have this conversation later - I say "She's getting married too??" Ed stops me and says " Don't say it!" So I shut up and finish drinking my margarita - for a while.
Here's my issue - I find it odd that a few months after Ed drops a girlfriend, or she dumps him - whatever - she winds up engaged. How does that KEEP happening? Who gets engaged a few months after breaking up with someone you dated for a year or more? That may happen once or twice, but that many times - no, that's not a coincidence.
Either women are seeking you out to make some other man jealous, which is very risky, and childish. Or, your dating her has raised her profile to the point where men are standing around waiting to catch her on the rebound. They know you won't commit. Either way - something is rotten in Denmark.
I borught this to his attention many years ago and he dismissed it - but we were kids back then and I thought that it was strange, but it hadn't happened enough for me to quote chapter and verse, so I had to drop it.
But, here is my final word - sometimes you think of yourself as the player, but you're really getting played!
