Rant re: relationships

Is it too late for me to dream of becoming a future gold medallist in the luge?
Yes, probably, so let's move on....

I am caught up in YET ANOTHER situation where I know that someone is having an affair, but have been asked to not mention it anywhere, in case the partner who is being cheated on finds out. It still floors me that this seems to be the accepted way of behaviour in our society - "I know that Sarah is cheating on Mike, but we can't tell him because he'd be devastated" (random names chosen for the purpose of that example). Isn't the fact that its happened at all the devastating aspect?

In these circumstances, it seems to me, there is no pressure or expectation on people to control their urges and their behaviour, the pressure is on their friends and family to keep their mouths shut when they find out about it. Affairs are never seen as wrong unless they are brought to light within the context of the relationship that they are threatening by their very existence. And when that happens, the highest level of indignation is aimed at the person who revealed the affair, rather than the participants within it. I have actually seen someone shouting at her brother-in-law in a pub, having a go at him because he told his brother that his wife was cheating on him with someone from work. The woman in question, having conducted six months of regular liaisons with a colleague without a thought of the affect it would have on her husband, actually shouted at her brother-in-law "Why did you tell Adam about me and Martin? You've ruined our marriage!" And there wasn't a hint of any guilt, self-awareness, irony or shame in her voice, and about 80% of the other people in the pub - men and women, married and single, gay and straight, agreed with her!

It all seems completely skewed to me, and adds yet more fuel to my burning belief that almost everyone on Earth is a piece of shit, barely worth considering worthy of the oxygen they use to survive.

RC 10-2-22