Yeah. It's give and take. He goes out for the evening, does his own thing, and I get to snuggle up in bed for five hours doing whatever the hell I want. It's wonderful. Funny thing is, living with him has increased my trust in him, probably because I enjoy it when he goes out. Has the same happened with you?

Hard to type out the phonetic spellings of the Maine accent. xD You can't say that saying without the accent.

My parents have made it work. Granted, not all of those 28 years were easy, and the past few have been a little rough with my parents. But I don't doubt they'll get through. My dad really needs a new job…

I'm an introvert, and very much love my me space (both physically and figuratively). My bedroom was my me space, until I had to share it with someone else. I did not give that up easily. I was a grump for about a month. I got over though. You can carve out little places for yourself - I plan on setting up a book…

Compatibility is everything. How you connect with someone is deeply important. Love, trust, those are things you build. You craft them. If you aren't compatible with the person you love, then as we say in Maine, "you caahn't git theyah from heyah." You can build love and trust with just about anyone. You make it work…

My boyfriend and I discussed living together before we did it, but we had talked about it months in advance, in more of a "we will do this eventually" kind of way. We had already been dating long distance for about a year, and then he got a job in my town and then he just moved in. As in, it just happened. We didn't…

YOU AND YOUR MISANDRIST USE OF WAR META-oh.

I agree with you as well. I made the mistake of accidentally trampling on or diminishing MadPiglet's experience, and for that I apologize and recognize that this is not all easy. She has done wonderfully in that she recognizes her bias, most people don't even get that far.

Most…

I understand the feeling, because I've had my own trust issues with men based on my own experiences. Thankfully I've gotten over them mostly, but the instinct is hard to erase. I suppose the issue that I see is the fact that there are so many people who react out of fear and instinct that nobody will be able to do…

I always hate when people accuse someone else of not having empathy. I was disagreeing with her. I understand what she has gone through. It's terrible and awful and should never have happened to her. I feel bad. But I can also disagree with someone if I think that people who all individually make a choice to not hire…

I'm sorry, I made a mistake. I'm not trying to say that you a horrible person or that your life experiences aren't valid. I'm disagreeing with you, because I don't think that letting fear dictate decisions is always a good idea, because I think it helps contribute to rape culture. That was my point. I was simply…

I have to agree with xhr1s. I'm sorry you went through such a horrible thing. I understand the instinct to recoil out of fear. You have made your decision, but so has every one else on your side - and not all had experienced what you did. Each person who firmly states that men should not be babysitters contributes to…

I posted my story! I put it under the tags Dating Violence, Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, and Survival.

Same! I managed to save my sister from the same thing I went through, except she was literally one week away from marrying the guy. Thankfully we were able to talk her out of the trees and get her out of that mess, but I had to tell her my story to do it. When she realized that her ex was just like mine, she cut off…

Dance, I think you and I should form a domestic abuse survivor's group thing here on Jez. I think our stories can help shed more light on the subject of abuse, because we can articulate what happened to us and maybe help others understand. Understanding and information are the greatest tools to combat and help end the…

My story is like yours. While I never got down as far as you did, my abusive relationship started out with psychological abuse and by the time I left it was becoming violent. Each time you try to "fix" things, or articulate your needs or wants, or try to point out inappropriate behavior - it always is turned around…

It's not that there are issues with women being pretty, it's that the expectation is that ALL female characters need to be pretty. It's the lack of diversity in female characters, and that's why I like this picture - it's not prettied up, and it's a nice change of pace.

You're welcome! It's one of those irrational things that makes no sense from the outside, but when you're in it you see the cycle and ass-backwards "logic" that it follows. It's very common for victims of abuse to become abusers themselves.

Yes, please!

Yes, exactly. Employers use interns for menial tasks but don't educate them in the actual nuts and bolts of it. Which kind of defeats the purpose of being an intern. It's supposed to be educational, not just "be around the people who are in your chosen field!".

I agree, most of the peers in my school were actually very motivated and dedicated students, and my school is one of the crappiest in the state. I actually had a very good high school resume, but it only got me so far. Specifically, community college.

Ah, yes, then I see your point and agree. I think it's utter bullshit, entry level is where the training should be happening. It's just... DAMN YOU ASSHOLE EMPLOYERS!