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Friend is a serial cheater, he has wife and kids... should I rat him out?


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2013 Apr 11, 2:38am   22,660 views  83 comments

by Goran_K   ➕follow (4)   💰tip   ignore  

I work with a huge client in Los Angeles a couple of days a week. It's pretty lucrative work, and this client alone accounts for about 20% of my businesses revenue per month. The way I "got in" was through a friend who hooked me up with the right people in the company, and as luck would have it, he's my direct contact within this mega corporation.

We're both married with kids. I met him during my days at Goldman Sachs. Back then I was more of the "serious, get my work done to satisfy my 20 bosses type of guy", and he was more of the "joke around all the time, can't wait to punch out and drink" guy. The thing is, even with his attitude, he did get his work done, but he never seemed to like it. I think they kept him around just because everyone liked him. He would spot people $20 for lunch if they forgot their wallet, always volunteered to give our group of friends a ride to lunch, etc.

He is one of those guys who is a skilled conversationalist, both at starting, and continuing, and I think his people skills have helped his career immensely. He just gets people to feel comfortable really easily. I got sent to Hong Kong and other parts of Asia for a few years, he ended up staying state side and moving up the ladder, so to speak. By the time I came back, this guy was solidly mid-management, almost director level.

I ended up starting my own consulting firm, and he kept moving up the ladder, going to different companies, getting promoted, higher salary,etc. So now he's pretty much a big shot at a huge company in L.A and I'm happy for him.

So last week, I'm in the city until around 6pm, and I know with the traffic going back to Orange County, I figure I'll just have dinner with the guy. We go to Maestro's in Beverly Hills, and have a feast. This guy puts it on his company CC, and pays for the whole thing (just the type of guy he is). We get into a conversation about our families, etc. I tell him about my kids and how happy I am to be a home owner again, etc. Then he drops it on me.

Friend: "So all those years being married, did you cheat on her on business trips?"

Me: "No, I'd never do anything like that. I look, but I don't touch. Have you?"

Friend: "All the time. You're missing out. I rub beards when I'm out on the East Coast, and I even have a steady in New York. She's married too. It's actually made my marriage better."

Now the thing is, I KNOW his wife, and his wife and my wife know each other. They're Facebook friends, they sometimes call each other to plan play dates at the beach We've had them over for dinner, our kids have played in our backyard together, I mean, we're pretty tight. Also, his wife is BEAUTIFUL. She's 15 years younger than he is, tall, takes care of her body, and just a sweet gal.

After the dinner, I kept thinking to myself, should I talk this guy out of it? He's probably been doing it for YEARS. I don't think I should get involved and "rat him out" to his wife, but it's all been so heavy, like when you have this dark secret you don't want anyone to know, but it feels like your face is screaming it out to everyone because of the feelings of guilt. My wife even asked me if anything was wrong the other day in bed, and I couldn't hide my discomfort at knowing my close friend was betraying his families trust in such a way. Totally changed my perception of him.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to do at this point. I don't want things to get awkward but I'm thinking of telling him what an idiot he is for doing what he's doing, but I worry about the personal relationship having an effect on the business relationship. I could live with losing the client, I suppose, but I'd feel pretty bad about losing him as a friend since I've pretty much known him since after I got out of business school...

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52   Goran_K   2013 Apr 11, 6:48am  

leo707 says

Maybe he is telling another close friend about a "steady" in Atlanta, and another about one in Boston.

Now he quietly waits to see what steady lover his wife is going to complain about.

Well he does remind me of Tyrion Lannister.

53   Goran_K   2013 Apr 11, 6:52am  

CaptainShuddup says

He'll get his in the end, about the time, he's chewed up and spat out on the down slope of his climax in his career. About into the 2nd year of job hunting, and foreclosure notices start coming. Hornboy wont be so damn sexy to her then.

Though that would be sad, I do believe in karma, which is why I'm willing to chat with him about it.

54   Tenpoundbass   2013 Apr 11, 7:00am  

Goran_K says

Though that would be sad, I do believe in karma, which is why I'm willing to chat with him about it.

Well you do what you want, but people tend to not appreciate moral superiority.
That's not to say, we don't love to be morally superior.
See there's a problem, You're on your high horse, and he's on his horse well there's a horsie on his Ferrari. You both trying to head each other off at the pass, but with different objectives.
He's trying to throw you a bone, in the form of work, he's supposed to be the "Good boy", now if you're trying to the be long ranger too, by telling him, he's a bad man. Then his efforts is all for naught. There's not enough hand rails on that ride for two, one of you will have to get off.

55   Ceffer   2013 Apr 11, 7:38am  

I say rat him out big time. It will make your life a lot more dramatic and interesting for a while, but maybe not as pleasant.

Also, his wife might decide to revenge fuck all of his friends and acquaintances, and you might be on the list!

56   Robber Baron Elite Scum   2013 Apr 11, 7:43am  

DO NOT DO IT.

Divorce is extremely costly. It can cause family wealth to diminish upwards of 75% when you account for attorney and court fees.

Divorce is also extremely unfair to men in America.

If you really are his "friend", you would keep your mouth shut.

And it's not only for him but for the kids.

Once his children have finished college, then you can go rat him out if you want. Although I still advise against it.

It's also better you keep your nose out of people's affairs and business which is none of you concern.

Children become permanently scarred through divorce. Screw his money-hungry bitch of a wife.

The children are more important than her.

If he had no kids, than fine. Go rat him out. Even than I would not suggest it.

But since he has kids, I DEMAND AND FORCE YOU TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!

57   Robber Baron Elite Scum   2013 Apr 11, 7:51am  

Goran_K says

What if she ends up getting some horrible STD?

What if the kids end up as some horrible criminal because they don't have a father?

Majority of male criminals in prison are raised from single mothers because they never had a father figure or male role model to guide them properly. Mothers are useless when it comes to becoming a man.

Majority of std-infested prostitutes, porn stars and whores come from single mothers.

The wife probably already has an STD. Let's now prevent the children from becoming criminals and getting STDS.

Fuck the parents. They are not important. They have already lived their life. Let the kids live in peace and give them a chance a normal healthy life.

And you want to rat him out because you had a small little issue, quarell or disharmony with him?

58   Robber Baron Elite Scum   2013 Apr 11, 7:59am  

Goran_K says

betraying his families trust

Divorce attorneys will betray his families trust.

PLEASE SHUT UP AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

I have had a lot of experience with divorce, it's effects, costs and have done a lot of research into it.

Do not get involved in other people's stuff. People have been brutally murdered over stuff like this.

Not saying you will be, but you never know.

Instead of getting involved in other people's mess, go worry about yourself.

And no, I don't think it's good with what he did and is doing.

59   Robber Baron Elite Scum   2013 Apr 11, 8:11am  

Goran... You are just like fucking realtors...

Fucking up the children's inheritance and family wealth.

60   epitaph   2013 Apr 11, 8:13am  

Keep your mouth shut, none of your business, etc.

If he tries to bring it up again tell him to drop the subject, and tell him to be careful on who he tells this shit to. You are an honest guy and probably would never blackmail anybody, but some people would.

Tell him that it's in his best interest to shut up.

61   Goran_K   2013 Apr 11, 8:13am  

lol

I'm not going to rat him out. I think that's a horrible idea, and I do think he might harm me (who wouldn't).

But I still want to try and talk some sense into him.

62   JodyChunder   2013 Apr 11, 9:17am  

Goran_K says

While I do find her attractive, I couldn't do it. Sleeping with your friend's wife is probably one of the worst things I could think of ever doing.

And also the tawdry premise of a lot of bad porn...

"I need you to fuck my wife..."

63   PockyClipsNow   2013 Apr 11, 9:34am  

what is 'rub beards'? urbandictionary doesnt have it.

Funny thread but be aware if you interfere with a mans marriage/children that is 'declaration of war' and you might not like the rules he plays by.

64   Goran_K   2013 Apr 11, 9:37am  

Well he could instantly cut my income by 20%. So it's not like this goes without risk.

That being said, he's a good friend, I doubt he would flip out with me trying to talk him out of being a cheater.

65   JodyChunder   2013 Apr 11, 9:45am  

Goran -- first off, I admire your moral hygiene. You're a regular Galahad, whose heart is in the exact right place here.

My first bit of advice: don't assume everyman is about as good a person as you are, (or strive to be), and therefore, accountable to the same code. You also cannot assume that every woman expects or anticipates that their man is about as good a person as you are, (or strive to be). I think some people just don't want to be totally alone in the world is all, and they put up with the inevitable vagaries of long term commitments as well as the shortcomings of shitty men (and asshole women).

It could well be that there are undercurrents in this man's marriage that both he and his wife already sense, but which remain untagged in order for each of them to function as reasonably "together" human beings. IOW, the idea that this stuff has not yet or will never come out in the laundry is totally farfetched. Most women's intuition is impossibly acute. As insane and counter-intuitive as it sounds to someone with a high moral thread count, it could be that this particular time is just not the best for either of them to look under the rug at all the bugs they've both been sweeping under there. I think this thing will take care of itself eventually.

And, as someone else mentioned, it could also be an open marriage, perhaps even only implicitly. As progressive and fashionable as this sounds to some middlebrow intellectual types, this arrangement will also not last, (because really, what is the point anyway?), and is usually a last gasp in a relationship.

The best thing for you to do is to learn from this experience. Be sensitive to the woman and open up to your own woman about how it makes you feel. Really, seriously -- talk about it. As for your friendship with this fellow...he sounds like more of a colleague than friend. Therefore, I recommend keeping your cards close. Asking anyone to look at something they're doing is almost always going to create tension, but especially something of this magnitude. The fact that he's so glib about his corruption and dishonesty toward the one person on the planet he should be striving to do right by has probably already diminished your respect for him, which makes tasking yourself with the herculean effort of putting him in touch with himself that much less compelling.

In other words, fuck that guy.

66   gbenson   2013 Apr 11, 9:47am  

If it were me, I'd let it slip to my wife that he was fooling around. Your wife can probably better gauge what to tell, or what not to tell, his wife. She will probably be able to drop a very subtle hint that plants the seeds of doubt with the other wife (if she doesn't already know). If she does already know, she'll brush off the subtle hint, otherwise, she'll start watching him and looking for signs (which would be pretty easy to spot). Not to drop stereotypes, but guys totally suck at reading this sort of stuff.

His announcing it to you so casually means either he:
a. trusts you (which will be destroyed if you tell)
b. thinks he's indestructible (which means he's lost touch with reality)
c. wants out of his marriage, but doesn't want to initiate it.

67   AverageBear   2013 Apr 11, 9:53am  

I had a similar problem w/ a really good friend while we were in college. He'd cheat on his girlfriend of 6 years. yes, I know it's not the same thing as being married, but a 6 year relationship from HS into college says something.... I was dating my friend's roomate, and they all had suspicions (sp?)... I denied, denied, denied when asked. I had arguments w/ my friend, saying "do you have any idea of the kind of 'estrogen shit storm' you put me through the other day?!".... Well, she eventually broke it up, and he was a mess for a while.... In your case, yeah it sucks you are burdened w/ the truth that you didn't ask for..... But at the same time, you are enjoying being his friend on a few levels. ($$, friendship, etc)....C'mon, this is a no-brainer. You don't tell ANYONE, and keep it to yourself. Maybe you have a drink w/ your friend, and genuinely express your sadness about his 'bombshell'. Remind him that you now have to 'keep up appearances' now that you have this in your head. Hopefully he'll understand, and maybe you can ask him not to talk about his 'adventures'. I know it's not fun, but good friends are rare.......As far as my friend and his story? I was his best man at his wedding 5 years after we graduated. He's got 3 kids and never strayed. He's a godfather to one of my sons. He's a good friend that I put up w/ through thick and thin 'back in the day'. That what good friends do.

68   anonymous   2013 Apr 11, 9:54am  

Goran_K says

Well he could instantly cut my income by 20%. So it's not like this goes without risk.

That being said, he's a good friend, I doubt he would flip out with me trying to talk him out of being a cheater.

You keep posting that you plan to "talk him out of it"

Play that out,,,on paper,,,in your head, whatever. Because I don't see that as any type of solution to what you percieve as a problem.

Gorank : hey buddy, I really think you ought to say sober when on the road, and just retreat to your hotel room early for a cold shower, and skype your wife and kids until you nod off,,,

Friend : what, you mean instead of making rounds with hordes of hot pieces of ass merely looking for a fling, while I'm away on bidness? Why, I never really thought of that,,,good idea.

Gorank: well that was easier then I thought,,,everyone at patnet was telling me to mind my own business. Idiots

Friend : hahaha that they are! Thanks for showing me the light.

69   AverageBear   2013 Apr 11, 9:59am  

gbenson says

If it were me, I'd let it slip to my wife that he was fooling around. Your wife can probably better gauge what to tell, or what not to tell, his wife. She will probably be able to drop a very subtle hint that plants the seeds of doubt with the other wife (if she doesn't already know). If she does already know, she'll brush off the subtle hint, otherwise, she'll start watching him and looking for signs (which would be pretty easy to spot). Not to drop stereotypes, but guys totally suck at reading this sort of stuff.


His announcing it to you so casually means either he:
a. trusts you (which will be destroyed if you tell)
b. thinks he's indestructible (which means he's lost touch with reality)
c. wants out of his marriage, but doesn't want to initiate it.

-----------------------------------
What? No, you don't tell the old lady nuthin! No good can come out of this advice. Nothing. Now you have two people w the 'screw eye' when this guy's friend and wife come over. It will ruin the guy's friendship, the whole family dynamic between the families, the guy's marriage, the friendship between the wives. Total catastrophe. Don't buy front row tickets for this event you are causing. Let him fuck it up himself (which he may or may not do)... Goran has two options: 1) act like this info never happened or 2) do the slow fade in friendship (which i don't know if it's possible).

70   Goran_K   2013 Apr 11, 10:44am  

Yeah I think rub beards is a reference to cunnilingus.

Thanks for the advice Jody, gbenson, and AverageBear. He probably won't listen to me, but in the 1% chance he snaps out of it, I'll let him know the best thing to do is just enjoy is awsome beautiful wife instead of the lonely home wrecker he's using on business trips.

71   gbenson   2013 Apr 11, 10:57am  

AverageBear says

No, you don't tell the old lady nuthin! No good can come out of this advice.

Meh, that's your opinion. My attitude on this, (and I suspect Goran's may be similar) is that he's turning the situation around. Ask yourself if your wife was cheating and your wife's friend knew about it, would you want her to tell you?

I once had dinner with a CEO of a company in Japan and a sales exec who was, shall we say, very flirtatious, while on the road. Both were married and had kids. Over dinner (one of those posh private chefs deals at a 5 star hotel) the subject of how far you'd go on the road came up and I stated my belief that I'd only do what I'd feel comfortable that my wife was doing while she was on the road. I could tell by the expressions on their face that neither of them had ever considered it from that perspective, or perhaps didn't want to. Not sure why, but the CEO whispered something to the hostess and the Geisha's waiting for us to finish dinner left shortly after. I suspect I ruined their evening, but I can still look my wife in the eye.

It's a heavy cross to bear, but I knew being a godless Atheist liberal wasn't going to be easy among all these family values religious conservatives running amok... :'P

72   New Renter   2013 Apr 11, 11:02am  

gbenson says

I once had dinner with a CEO of a company in Japan and a sales exec who was, shall we say, very flirtatious, while on the road. Both were married and had kids. Over dinner (one of those posh private chefs deals at a 5 star hotel) the subject of how far you'd go on the road came up and I stated my belief that I'd only do what I'd feel comfortable that my wife was doing while she was on the road. I could tell by the expressions on their face that neither of them had ever considered it from that perspective, or perhaps didn't want to. Not sure why, but the CEO whispered something to the hostess and the Geisha's waiting for us to finish dinner left shortly after. I suspect I ruined their evening, but I can still look my wife in the eye.

How'd the deal with that company work out?

73   gbenson   2013 Apr 11, 11:05am  

Goran_K says

But I still want to try and talk some sense into him.

Goran, just happened to think, you could always use the old reverse phycology trick on him. Next time this topic comes up with him, say, "Whew, I am glad we can talk about stuff like this. Cause you know, while you were away on your last trip, your wife was flirting with me pretty bad. It's great to know you two have an open enough relationship to where you'd be cool with what happened."

Too much? :)

74   gbenson   2013 Apr 11, 11:08am  

New Renter says

How'd the deal with that company work out?

They had flown me to Tokyo to do a dog an pony show of their product (we were their star customer), so there weren't any business repercussions. (Besides, we were all pretty much plastered by then anyway on some really good Sake) Not sure about the CEO, but the sales guy changed jobs a few moths later to a position where he wouldn't be on the road as much and could stay home with his family.

75   rooemoore   2013 Apr 11, 11:16am  

Hysteresis says

have you masturbated while married without your wife knowing? rhetorical question. i know the answer.

it's not that different than cheating, he just does it (orgasm with someone other than the wife) with real people instead of a computer. lol.

I masturbate to pictures of my wife and it's hot.

76   ducsingle5313   2013 Apr 11, 11:48am  

If this guy is a true serial cheater, there's pretty much zero chance he will change his behavior if you talk to him. Do a little web surfing on serial cheaters if you are interested in the psychology. So if your only reason to talk to him is to convince him that he needs to stop, you might as well not waste your time.

As above, my main concern would be health risks to his wife. Plenty of Japanese housewives have wound up HIV positive courtesy their husbands' "golf trips" to Thailand. For those who have posted that telling the wife will likely have adverse effects on the kids, how do you think the kids would be affected by their mom slowly wasting away from AIDS? Or dying from hep C induced liver failure? If you knew your wife was out fucking random guys, would you have unprotected sex with her?

Your friend has placed you in a lose-lose situation. If you talk to him, his behavior won't change and your relationship may take a turn for the worse. If you don't talk to him and things blow up, your wife will be suspicious as to whether you knew what was going on, and that means trouble for you.

I think the suggestion to have a conversation with your wife is a good one. This is the kind of stuff that partners are supposed to share with each other, and the potential fallout affects both of you.

77   New Renter   2013 Apr 11, 12:35pm  

rooemoore says

Hysteresis says

have you masturbated while married without your wife knowing? rhetorical question. i know the answer.

it's not that different than cheating, he just does it (orgasm with someone other than the wife) with real people instead of a computer. lol.

I masturbate to pictures of my wife and it's hot.

She's hot? Prove it!

78   MsBennet   2013 Apr 11, 3:00pm  

CaptainShuddup says

You may motivate her to act on the information you have, but that doesn't mean she will be grateful, and none of four of you, will never be the same friends again. Probably more than likely they will continue as a couple, he's showering her with his bounty right now. But they'll cut you guys off from their lives so they don't have to deal with the awkwardness of having to deal with you again.

I agree with everything the Captain said. I wouldn't mention it. And anything you say is not going to stop the guy anyway. I would just change the subject if it's brought up. He probably has some level of guilt about it. He was hoping you'd say yes, you cheated, so he could feel better about himself.

79   Goran_K   2013 Apr 11, 3:09pm  

Actually I do agree he may have been looking for some sort of validation from me, looking for me to recount some wild "cheat" stories I may have. It was sort of an awkward end to the conversation, and I know he could tell I was a little bothered. Part of me thinks he won't bring it up again, he's not a dumb guy, he's sharp, and perceptive. You need to be when you're in his position.

80   Moderate Infidel   2013 Apr 11, 3:58pm  

Not only should you rat him out but you should make up a bunch of horrible lies to add to the narrative and then have an affair with his wife.

81   elliemae   2013 Apr 12, 12:24am  

I hope that you realize by now that this is none of your business... and that no good can come from your telling him off, telling your wife about it, etc.

What outcome do you expect? He won't appreciate being "outed" at all and you'll lose a friend & business contact, or his wife will leave him & you'll lose a friend & business contact, or your wife will become angry at you for ruining her friendship and not only will she lose her buddy, but you'll also lose a friend & business contact... This little situation could blow up and by the time you're done, you might not be married either.

I've seen shit like this too many times. Avoid the subject and if he pushes it, tell him you're happily married and don't want to hear about it. When he's caught and it's out in the open, tell your wife he had said something about it but that you hadn't believed him. deny, deny, deny.

Years ago, I had a friend tell me about an awesome man she met who lived with his sister & her kid - the sister was out of town and the baby was so cute, she played with him for hours and then they screwed in every room of the tiny house. She described where he lived & how they had double-dated with some of his friends. He also gave her a pretty little necklace during their several day tryst.

The only problem was, I knew the guy's wife and that was their child that woman #2 had played with. I told her the deal, and asked if I could tell the wife when she returned from her business trip. She said it was ok. She gave me the necklace to return to his wife, which had been a birthday gift.

So, woman #1 returns to town, I take her to my house and tell her the deal. She's angry and doesn't believe me - thinks I'm jealous of her p.o.s., unemployed man who has assured her he would never step out on her again (!). I then give her the little necklace memento that he had given woman #2. She accuses me of having an affair with the p.o.s.

In the ensuing shitstorm, I lost two friends, the married couple stayed together... it affected my work (woman #1's brother was a customer)... Oh, and she tried to tell my fiancé that I had put the moves on the p.o.s. No immediate good came out of the situation.

Things like this never turn out well.

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Shostakovich says

Find out when he is next traveling and show up naked at his house and give his wife the good news after you give her the bad news.

AF: you are twisted. But I like it...

82   Tenpoundbass   2013 Apr 12, 12:44am  

elliemae says

What outcome do you expect? He won't appreciate being "outed" at all and you'll lose a friend & business contact, or his wife will leave him & you'll lose a friend & business contact, or your wife will become angry at you for ruining her friendship and not only will she lose her buddy, but you'll also lose a friend & business contact... This little situation could blow up and by the time you're done, you might not be married either.

Or his wife and your continue as buddies, but the ex-wife might start having a ball, and the time of her life, that may get your wife to reevaluate her own happiness. One of the biggest threat to a marriage, is a wife's friend who is rediscovering her self, and becomes advocate for their friends to do the same.
Perhaps so they will have a camaraderie, and become clubbing cougar buddies.

I have a simple philosophy, "Point that thing somewhere else.".
When friends or pseudo family come around me with shit spewing, I do every thing I can to get them to point it in the other direction. Every time you get involved in other people's shit, you'll get the most shit on you.

I am willing to try to help people to get out of the shit, but only if I'm asked.
Many people just like to inform you of the deep shit they are in, while not asking for any help at all.

83   edvard2   2013 Apr 12, 2:19am  

I'm not going to offer my opinion on this, but I just wanted to say that its kind of cool that even though a lot of us have very different political opinions and sometimes get into heated debates that at least on this thread, there's some really thoughtful and meaningful responses. Yay for us!

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