PrncssOfCuddles wrote:SaintB wrote:My latest SO worked 2 jobs and wanted space, they asked if we could restrict most of our time together to special occasions and plan things ahead of time around her work schedule, thusly I gave it to her. I let her work, I stayed conscious of her schedule I let her take time to relax on her own when she wanted to (customer service jobs make you hate people sometimes) and on days I could I spent time with her. Day before April fools she dumps me for the guy she met online in her free time when she 'wanted to relax and not talk to anyone.' I always treated her as an equal, I compromised when it didn't benefit me, I did favors when asked or needed; I did for her what I would want someone to do for me the same as in any other relationship but unlike with other people I put her needs first ahead of theirs. That's how I treat SO and expect to be treated the same in return.
Instead I get grief. I have 3 or 4 similar stories.
It souds to me like you didn't treat her as an equal so much as a superior, which can be hurtful to relationships.
I don't see anything that suggests that. I think that, based on SaintB's account, it was a good balance.
I think that when she asked for "space" she was probably already well on her way to dating that other person on the internet, but she wasn't sure if she really wanted to end her current relationship or not. Once she had "space" she started exploring it further, until she decided it was good enough that she wanted to dump her current partner. Not a happy ending, to be sure, but this shit happens. Sometimes you care about somebody more than they care about you, and that SUCKS, but it happens.
The thing about relationships is that you can do everything right and have it still not work out. SaintB might have done everything right and still this partner would simply have wanted to go with somebody else. That sucks, and I can totally understand why some people feel like it's unfair, but relationships don't work like videogames; you can't just find the right sequence of button-pushes and be guaranteed that you'll win the game.