Online Lists Destroy Love

Don't we all love our online lists?  We read these things all of the time. Things like: Top ten reason to love Ryan Gosling; top twenty five reasons to become a doctor; Top fifteen toe fungi to not contract while vacationing in Canada.  These are fun to read right?  My answer is yes...sometimes.  

Truly I love some good old lists every now and then, but I have a problem with particular lists which fall under the category of "paranoid relationship lists."  These lists are designed to instill doubt in relationships that are going very well.  Their titles consist of things like: "10 signs of an affair" or "top ten things to look for when someone is cheating on you."  I hate these.  Not only are many of the reasons complete garbage, but people read these things and then think "damn I gotta look out for THAT now."

  

For example, here is a reason for cheating I just pulled randomly online:

He’s Suddenly Shaving

If your husband’s grooming habits suddenly take a change for the better, then you might have to be concerned that you’re not the one he is trying to impress.

Maybe it is just a little harmless flirting with a cute new girl in the office who makes him feel young again, or maybe it is something worse.

(Doesn't that last line just open up a bunch of nasty thoughts?)

The intent of this particular advice is for someone to go home to their significant other and keep track of their hygiene/personal appearance.  If at any given point it improves you're supposed to thing "Oh no, he/she is being unfaithful, time to let doubt ruin my day."  That's the point though.  You read crap like this and it gives you doubt. 

Everyone who cheats does it in their own way; you can't say irresponsible things like this to inspire unreasonable conclusions. Not only that, it also makes life tougher for those who don't (to those who say "everyone cheats once “if everyone really did it would be accepted as a totally fine thing by society by now). 

 If your significant other decides to make a life improvement that starts with shaving, the first thing you shouldn't think is "damn he's probably doing it for some other girl."  

If you do happen to be in a terrible relationship where you are always worried about cheating that's your fault and you should figure something out.

And that's all I have to say about that.

On the subject of doubt, this particular picture makes me feel uncomfortable about my relationship with my blog.