KEY POINTS:
I have never been one for serial monogamy. Sure, if I like someone and think my life will be enhanced by entering a relationship with them, I'll go out with them.
But I don't need a boyfriend. It doesn't define who I am and I don't feel there is a gaping hole in my life when I don't have one.
Which is why I've never understood the mindset behind serial monogamists; People who jump from one long-term relationship to another without a moment's respite, often overlapping partners during the interim.
I also don't understand people who go out with serial monogamists. If your partner cheated on someone before getting together with you, what on earth makes you think they won't cheat on you and leave you for someone else?
A leopard doesn't change its spots and there's truth in every clich.
I was recently horrified to hear one man's take on the subject.
"It's like a job. You're never going to quit one before you've got the next lined up."
What horrified me more was that this pearl of wisdom came not from the man himself, but via his girlfriend.
Seriously? You are going out with a person who has openly admitted he will leave you if a better offer comes along?
Because effectively that is what he's saying. If relationships are like jobs, then the logic follows that he is constantly seeking promotion.
Not only that, but you're going out with someone who won't end the relationship - and will more than likely try to talk you out of ending the relationship - unless they've got someone else to fall back on. Literally.
Now, I'm not a total cynic. I'm willing to concede that sometimes fate brings people together in quick succession, when they're still with someone else, even.
But when there's a repeat pattern of behaviour, when someone hasn't been single for the past decade and has been in multiple relationships, that's something I just don't get.
In fact, I think that's my deal breaker.
