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Old Apr 23, 2013, 04:35 PM
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RomanSunburn RomanSunburn is offline
Poohbah
 
Member Since: May 2008
Location: East Coast, USA
Posts: 1,293
Your story immediately caught my eye. My husband and I went to high school together, reconnected over Thanksgiving break, and started dating long distance (DC to Indiana). And honestly? He was kind of self-centered at the time too. Though, amusingly enough, he broke up with me because I was too much to handle. He eventually figured it out, came crawling back, poetry in hand, some number of months later, and has been better than amazing ever since (not that it's been one perpetual honeymoon -- we've had plenty of rough spots to overcome).

And sure, all that might taint my vision of your relationship a bit, so take everything I say with one huge grain of salt.

I have to agree with the other poster who said to stop enabling him. Paying for his trip, while it was something you also wanted, gave him an easy way out. The cab fare... I would be upset too, but once the money is given as a gift, you can't really say what can and can't be done with it. You can say what you would like to be done with it, but you don't have any real control. You have to feel like you can trust him, and trusting him might include spending the money you give him wisely. And while you've only just started dating, if you continue to date and maybe even get married, how he handles money is going to become even more important. I also get being upset about forgetting his phone charger and making you wait for two hours -- but at the same time, that's done with and there's nothing anyone can do to change it. Fume about it for a while, but eventually let it go, after you've told him calmly how it upset you and in the future, could he please do things a little differently? (For instance, pay phone at the bus terminals along the way, borrowing a cell phone, something).

Now the thing about being left outside for 45 minutes... I don't understand why you couldn't ring the doorbell? It wasn't your fault if you woke everyone in the place up. If his roommates got mad, that's his issue, not yours. You weren't being a bad guest; he was being a bad host. You did everything in your power to reasonably make accommodations for the situation -- there's no need to kill yourself with unnecessary kindness because the dummy fell asleep. What I'm trying to say is you have more control over some of these situations than you think, or will allow yourself to have. Yes, you should be considerate, but you also have to make sure your needs are getting met. And even in a relationship, we still have to watch out for ourselves because there's no guarantee anyone else is doing it for us. (Side note, we're currently in a semi-long distance marriage, and when he gets home after a long week of working, he almost immediately falls asleep... so I totally get the.. 'Hello? Is one kiss really all I'm getting? You don't get to see me that often, why are you falling asleep?!' feeling)

I do think it would be valuable to clearly, and calmly, tell him exactly what you're thinking and feeling. I think once you have that conversation and see how things progress after that, you'll figure out if this relationship is going to work long term or not. And don't close your door to other/new options...whatever those might be.

Sorry if I was absolutely no help at all. I hope things work out the best for YOU. Remember, you = number one priority.
Hugs from:
BonnieG2010
Thanks for this!
BonnieG2010