All Comments on 'There's the Rub'

Bullshit ending. Neither of these people know the meaning of love. They're selfish, entitled assholes. Just because Bernie is unsettled in his new life station, they have the right to cuckold him. Maybe I missed the part of the story where Eileen gave him the option of some other asshole taking his place in her heart.

Excellent: Beautifully written and appealing as a romance as well as mildly erotic... Great story...

CES

Excellent.

To the courageously anonymous commenter who described the ending as "bullshit" because the two central characters are "selfish, entitled assholes". That's one perspective, and one I hear all too commonly. Another, rarely considered point of view is that of the partner/spouse who is forced to suppress their sexuality when their partner/spouse loses interest. Have you considered the 'selfishness' of a partner who thinks, "My erotic desires are gone so I'm afraid you're going to have to curb yours"?

Sex and relationship advice columnist, Dan Savage, has written about this topic many, many times, so I'll swipe from him:

I get emails daily from miserable people on both sides of this divide, LIBIDO, from people with high libidos who married lows and from people with low libidos who married highs. The highs are miserable because years of sexual rejection have shredded their sexual self-esteem, or they feel like monsters after years of being “indulged” with going-through-the-motions sex by barely willing and clearly miserable partners. The lows are miserable because going through the motions makes them miserable or they’re sick of constantly being pestered for sex and made to feel inadequate or broken when they pass.

You’re young and straight, LIBIDO, and the culture tells the young and the straight that they must be monogamous (because sex is so important) and that they shouldn’t take sexual compatibility into consideration when picking a partner (because sex is so unimportant). Other shit matters too, of course—stuff like emotional compatibility, similar life goals, being on the same page about kids, et cetera. But basic sexual compatibility matters too, and its absence will eventually undermine everything else.

Sex and relationship advice columnist, Dan Savage, has written about this topic many, many times, so I'll swipe from him:

I get emails daily from miserable people on both sides of this divide, LIBIDO, from people with high libidos who married lows and from people with low libidos who married highs. The highs are miserable because years of sexual rejection have shredded their sexual self-esteem, or they feel like monsters after years of being “indulged” with going-through-the-motions sex by barely willing and clearly miserable partners. The lows are miserable because going through the motions makes them miserable or they’re sick of constantly being pestered for sex and made to feel inadequate or broken when they pass.

You’re young and straight, LIBIDO, and the culture tells the young and the straight that they must be monogamous (because sex is so important) and that they shouldn’t take sexual compatibility into consideration when picking a partner (because sex is so unimportant). Other shit matters too, of course—stuff like emotional compatibility, similar life goals, being on the same page about kids, et cetera. But basic sexual compatibility matters too, and its absence will eventually undermine everything else.