This column is not nearly as serious a topic as it first appears to be, so keep reading for a bit of a laugh.
If you are reading this article and are over 17 years of age, my guess is that you’ve had your heart broken. When I say heart broken, I am not talking about what mayoclinic.com refers to as Broken Heart Syndrome, which they say is a “temporary heart condition that’s often brought on by stressful situations, such as the death of a loved one.”
What I mean here are the experiences that have inspired such songs as Connie Francis’s “Lipstick on Your Collar,” Hank Williams’s “Your Cheatin’ Heart” or Mary MacGregor’s “Torn Between Two Lovers,” or other lyrics that when put to music describe the endings of relationships due to unfaithfulness.
Frankly, I don’t believe any of my peers have escaped unscathed by the heartbreak monster— whether they were the heartbreaker or the heartbreakee. The stories I have encountered when I have listened to those giving accounts of their broken hearts is the loss of a relationship through the act of infidelity. Tales that I have been told can be a loved one being unfaithful physically or emotionally (whether in person or on the Internet), or sometimes both. Nevertheless, either way, cheating of any sort can cause some pretty serious heartaches all the way around.
Given the above information, I have often wondered if there is a surefire way for folks to avoid forming a relationship with a cheater. Well, readers, take note. According to a recent report that I saw on a morning news program, and later on websites yahoo.com and huffingtonpost.com, cheaters can indeed be avoided if you look for 10 different defining traits. Please do take the information below with a grain of salt and keep your tongue in cheek. Nevertheless, do enjoy the read. Note from Neena (NFN) can be found after each entry.
1. People whose age ends in ‘9’  Going on a date with a guy or gal who is turning 29, 39, 49, etc. is not wise, according to a published article in Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences. They say: six studies show that adults undertake a search for existential meaning when they approach a new decade in age (e.g., at ages 29, 39, 49, etc.) or imagine entering a new epoch, which leads them to behave in ways that suggest an ongoing or failed search for meaning. (NFN: Uh-oh. I have four more months of being 59!)
2. Tall guys According to metro.co.uk, a study from the extramarital dating site IllicitEncounters.com claim that men over 5’10” are twice as likely to cheat on their partners. (NFN: Just my luck; I am 5’10” and much prefer tall fellas.)
3. Rock-n-roll fans Allegedly, another survey from IllicitEncounters.com found that 41 percent of cheaters prefer rock music to all other genres. (NFN: Nevertheless, I will not switch to listening to rap or country music.)
4. Guys who work In IT  AshleyMadison.com (a dating site for married people looking to have affairs) says that of the 11,453 fathers surveyed (all of whom have accounts on the website), the largest percentage of would-be cheaters work in the IT/engineering field. (NFN: No worries here. I don’t understand IT anyway.)
5. The French According to LELO, a Swedish company that features a luxury brand of adult products, they surveyed the globe about intimate encounters and say that 75 percent of the French admit to cheating. (NFN: Lucky for me, I don’t think I even know any French men.)
6. Shopaholics  AshleyMadison.com also said that a typical straying user of their services is a serious shopper. More than a third of the women they surveyed said they have spent more on their appearance since they started cheating. And 27 percent have a secret credit card to finance their purchases. (NFN: I don’t know anyone who has enough money to be a shopaholic.)
7. Female teachers  Once again, according to an AshleyMadison.com survey of its website users, the typical unfaithful wife is more likely than not to be a teacher. (NFN: Not much to say here. Many of my childhood teachers were not exactly what one would call “hot.” )
8. Twitter users Research from the University of Missouri shows that there is a connection between those who use Twitter accounts and those who cheat on their significant others. The study shows that the more often a person uses Twitter, the more often they have relationship conflicts, like affairs. (NFN: What’s Twitter?)
9. Guys named Wayne  The folks at Siteopia.com did some name-related research and discovered that men named Wayne are mostly likely to cheat. They say that a study of 2,000 women looked at their experiences with men in the past and saw Wayne ranked as the least trustworthy name when it comes to love. The names Liam, Ryan and Matt also ranked highly. (NFN: Oh, no. They say the name Steve ranks in sixth place— I’ve got my eye on him!)
10. Blonde women  A survey conducted by CheaterVille.com found that 42 percent of cheating women have blonde hair. (NFN: is that natural blonde or..?)
Finally, food for thought from Famous-Quotes.com :
“I do not think that there are any men who are faithful to their wives.”
—Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
“My attitude toward men who mess around is simple: If you find ’em, kill ’em.”
—Loretta Lynn
