Sometimes the real tragedy in life is getting what we ask for. An internet user once asked for advice on what to do. In a disaster of his own making, he demanded that his wife agrees to an open relationship. He then quickly regretted the situation, when, as it turns out, she ended up seeing men that treated her better than he did.

The story originated on Reddit but then spread around the internet. A Twitter user saved a screenshot of it for us all to enjoy and other internet users had a field day mocking his self-humiliation.

Selfishness is the bane of every successful relationship, as many couples have found out the hard way

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A man decided that his wife wasn’t enough for him and that he needed an open relationship

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Regardless of what sort of relationship they are in, humans still are often flawed

While the husband was absolutely in the wrong here, statistically the majority of open relationships actually do revert to a closed relationship at some point. Studies show that up to 80% of open relationships where the initial partners do not split up start reverting to monogamy in time. Some might point to this as evidence that open relationships don’t work, but that’s missing the point. Successful open relationships exist to fill a gap in the initial relationship. When it’s filled, the partners don’t see any reason to remain open. So if we see an open relationship as a means to an end, instead of a permanent status, it becomes more clear why some couples chose something other than strict monogamy.

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It’s also important to note that many conventional, closed marriages are still deeply unhappy. Let’s face it, a closed marriage or relationship is definitely no indicator of actual life satisfaction. In fact, statistics show that there is no major difference in marriage satisfaction between closed and open marriages. Now, the man in this story clearly messed up, because the one area where open marriages tend to score better on life satisfaction is where at least one partner is bisexual. It’s sad to say, but people are people, regardless of what form their relationship ends up taking. Selfishness, conceit, and distrust can exist in single, married, and polyamorous individuals.

Open relationships often aren’t that different from their closed counterparts

Open relationships tend to fail when one of the partners isn’t fully convinced about the idea or suffers from a high degree of jealousy. Sometimes partners realize that they are monogamous after experimenting with an open relationship, which has now caused them to lose that feeling of intimacy with their initial partner. Around one to two percent of all US marriages end because of an open relationship, which by itself is not that high of a number. However, since only two to six percent of couples engage in open relationships, it might indicate that the model has its risks. Even if the couple does not have issues with jealousy, there is always the possibility that one of them will find someone they like more. Which is great for the person involved, but probably dooms the relationship.

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Sometimes just because there is an open relationship, it does not mean that one or either partner is actually taking advantage of the arrangement. Only 24% of the men in US open marriages reported having an extramarital sexual or romantic encounter over the previous year. For women, the number was even lower, at 22%. While it might appear that open relationships are becoming more popular, the general proportion of open to closed relationships has remained roughly the same since the 1970s. Instead, there is just more openness to discuss the topic and more media and literature about it as society becomes more open to the idea.

Commenters tore the man apart for so overvaluing his appeal and for being a hypocrite about the situation

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Some internet users shared similar experiences and expressed support for the wife

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