'AITA for letting a woman inspire me to jog an extra lap? Now my GF wants to leave me."
"AITA I jogged an extra round in the park due to a female jogger motivating me, now my gf wants to leave me?"
HierkommtdieSonne902 writes:
I (M26) was jogging at the park yesterday while it was raining a bit. I did seven rounds and was about to finish. A female jogger came, and this motivated me to do an eighth round. I did not interact with the person.
After coming home, I told my girlfriend (34) of one year that a female jogger in the park inspired me to do an extra round since it was nice to see someone else grinding it out in the rain.
My girlfriend said she felt disrespected, threw my stuff around, and packed her bags, saying she was leaving and that we were never talking again. She also lied to get into the room where I went to get some space, screamed at me, and refused to leave. (This was a six-hour fight, so I'm condensing it a lot, but I tried to de-escalate for the first three hours before I also lost my temper.)
She packed her stuff and told me that I'm a teenager and that she's leaving tomorrow at six in the morning and that we’re never talking again. I was the one who eventually had to apologize first and calm down the situation, so she is not leaving anymore.
She also apologized for what she did but claimed that I should try to say that to any woman and see if I get a better reaction. I doubt the argued universality of her response, although I do acknowledge in hindsight that I should not have used the word "inspire," but rather "motivate," or maybe not mention it at all.
I see the situation as sort of like finding motivation in a gym or co-working space to stay more focused, just that due to the rain, there was only one other jogger present, whose female identity didn't matter in my opinion.
I'm just very confused right now, to be honest. I know that my girlfriend's reaction was overblown even if what I did was wrong, but I just want to gain some perspective on how much of an a^#%ole I am. Thanks.
Here are some of the responses to OP's post.
Sigmageddon69 says:
This might be the moment where the age gap really showed. You’re 26, she’s 34. That gap doesn’t always matter, but in situations like this, it can reflect different expectations in communication or emotional response. Her reaction was extreme.
Screaming, packing bags, and calling you a teenager over a comment that didn’t even involve interaction suggests some deeper insecurity or emotional instability. It’s not normal or healthy to explode over something that mild. You’re not an a&*#ole. Maybe a bit naïve in how you phrased it.
djdamagecontrol says:
Every accusation is a confession. Who else wants to bet the gf is looking for a reason to break up?
atmasabr says:
NTA. I see NOTHING wrong with anything you said or did. A reasonable person would think you wanted to check the other girl out. And get over it regardless of your response.
OkStrategy1221 says:
Dude.. what the f&#k? Honestly from my perspective it seems like she just wanted an excuse to leave. You didn’t even interact with the woman? And her “say that to any other female” is bullc&#p because if my lover said that the worst I would do is go “oh yeah?
Another girl motivated you to work extra hard?” And either straddle him or turn it into a joke. It was not that deep for her to throw your things around and cause a fight that lasted six hours. Sorry to tell you but she does not seem like a decent person.