History 101 ?
Exactly how much you should tell your new partner about your Past? And if it’s truly in the grand old Archives of your life, should it even matter to your current S.O. (Significant Other) ?
Granted, there are some things which should always be divulged at the beginning of a new relationship:
1. Previous Marriage(s) – The time to be honest is well-before you apply for a Marriage License together. Trust me on this one.
2. If you have any children (in all fairness, you can only tell about the ones you know about)
3. Sexually transmitted Diseases (it’s really the only polite thing to do)
4. Any Incarcerations (Yes, this includes all Pending Court Cases)
Aside from important topics like the ones above, how much does somebody really need to know?
I realize in the spirit of being honest and sharing ourselves we may want to tell our new S.O. everything about our previous dating lives….but should we?
Even if our new partner asks for details, do they need to know everything?
I know when they ask the question, they may think they want to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…
But once they hear all about your crazy, drunken Four-Way with a former roommate and two friends, your boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband may be non-too-thrilled. Okay, unless you’re dating Larry Flynt, chances are pretty good they’ll be P.O.’d (and I don’t mean “Perfectly Okay”)
Isn’t there some truth in the statement “Ignorance is Bliss”?
My opinion is people never need to know everything. They think they want to know all the gory details, but they really don’t.
Trouble is, they’ll pester you to ‘fess up, and won’t realize they don’t want to know everything until it’s WAY too late….it’s always after they’ve seen pictures of you and the Miami Chippendale’s Dancer doing body shots off each other back at your Hotel room that they come to the hard realization that they wish they’d never asked.
At that point in our game, ladies and gentlemen, it really is too late. What I mean is those stories / pictures / videotapes / posters /YouTube Clips are now stuck in their heads. And although people may squash these images to the back of their little psyches, they never really forget.
So do yourself and your S.O. a favor – keep your mouth shut as much as possible. You’ll both sleep better at night.
Oh, and find a good hiding place for your old, uh….memorabilia.