Yesterday I had to sit in an Uber ride of over 20 minutes while the driver bragged to me about what a great guy he is for not cheating on his wife. I kid you not.

This was all packaged in softer, kinder language: he complained that most of his work colleagues are openly cheating on their wives and no one in the work environment is even trying to hide it (like bringing affair partners to work outings etc) and that he is personally saddened to see how little respect and consideration these men have for their wives.

He also talked about how fatherhood changed his perception of his wife because he now sees how patient and caring she is with their baby and what tremendous strength it must take. (This part about complimenting his wife sounded super-rehearsed by the way).

Next, he said that he also has had opportunities to cheat because ‘women throw themselves at him’ but he declined because he sees what a strong and dedicated woman his wife is and he couldn’t do that to her. I thought ‘Sure, buddy, I bet you don’t encourage all those women at all, if they even exist’.

Also notice how his faithfulness is apparently some prize earned by the wife for her dedication and strength and patience, aka for doing the parenting work for him as well.

So I said casually ‘Yeah, but that’s just normal behavior in a marriage, right? Even if so many of your colleagues are behaving badly’ and I swear his face changed and he was disappointed and angry for the entire remainder of the ride. I denied him the medal and praise he was expecting. :))

I wonder, if I had acted as if I’m more impressed and admirative that he’s such a good boy for not cheating, would I have ended up as a story about one of those ‘women who throw themselves at him’? I mean, he has to compensate with something for comparing himself to his colleagues, right?