Men are not often the initiators of a divorce, but it does happen a little more than a third of the time. Curious as to the male perspective, particularly when said male decides to file for divorce, a reddit user asked them to weigh in in a recent thread. Their responses were very insightful. Here are a few of our favorites that show what drives a guy to file divorce papers.
1. “When she neglected to tell me she had been married before until we got to the courthouse to get married ourself — when she punched me in the face — when she told me she thought sleeping with other people would help our relationship”
2. “Was at Buffalo Wild Wings with my ex-girlfriend and was being polite when ordering my food like a decent human being. When the check came she said, and I quote, ‘You better not tip her 5 dollars.’ The bill came out to almost 60 dollars.”
3. “I have been divorced twice. The first time, we were just too young to get married. I got married when I was 19. I joined the army when I was 22. While I was in Basic she cheated on me, but I let it go. She had cheated once before a year after we got married, but I had let that go as well. She slept with my best friend while I was deployed. So I let her go.
“The second time was all kinds of wrong. I met her in the army. We were both soldiers. WE both got out about 3 months apart. I got a call on a friday about ‘some possible fraudulent activity on my bank account’ I worked 12 hour swing shifts at the time, and had to work nights that weekend, so I said I would call them on monday morning to figure it out. Monday morning, I called, was on the phone with the bank as I walked into my now empty house, with an empty bank account. She had paced everything and moved out over the weekend. Dropped our 2 kids off with my mother and left me a note that said, ‘I don’t want to be a wife any more, or a mother. The kids are at your mom’s house. Don’t try and find me.'”
4. “When I confronted her with incontrovertible evidence of her long-term affair, and she immediately responded, ‘Who else knows about this? I do not want my parents to find out.’ She then went on to complain about how her affair partner would likely break up with her when he finds out that I know, because he would feel humiliated by the situation. I ruin everything! I had already filed for divorce a few days before, but this was the moment when I was absolutely positive that I had made the right decision.”
5. “The pastor in church was telling a fictitious story about a couple that both wanted divorce after their children’s graduation because they did not know each other anymore.
“I did not receive the moral of the story the pastor intended. Instead I was nearly overwhelmed with sadness for all the potential years wasted in an extremely unhappy relationship. I was separated a month later.
“Over two years later, I don’t regret my decision at all. Everyone should be able to seek their happiness.”
If you’re a man who has decided to file divorce forms, when was the moment you knew? Sound off in the comments section.