Hey, Facepunch. Minnesotan here. I come to you posing a series of unfortunate events that have befallen my friend and caused him to be rather encumbered. I come seeking advice to give my friend. He is very unhappy and is going through a difficult time. Please be as assisting and compliant as possible. Thank you.
First off: my friend.
My friend is Gary Harper. He is a thirty-four-year-old mathematics professor at a local college. He is a family friend. We have known him for years. But in the last several months, I'd say that he is more my friend than he is anyone else's in the family. We talk fairly often and give each other advice. He is a very good man: never does anything wrong, never hurts anyone, does his best to avoid conflict. Tragically, it seems that conflict has sought him out and found him! He is rather pathetic at the moment, and, what's worse, he is alone.
It all started with his wife: Katelynn. Gary and Katelynn have been married for seven years and have had one child: a boy named Richard (named after Gary's father). Anyway, Katelynn laid a huge bomb on Gary about three months ago: she asked for a divorce.
This came as a complete shock to Gary - he thought that the marriage was going just fine! He had a steady job, was never disloyal to Katelynn, was never abusive and [B]never[/B] lost his temper. He almost never drank, either. Nevertheless, Katelynn insisted that there were "problems" - problems that she refused to name. Gary asked her why she was doing this, but she never told him. She just said that things weren't going well.
Gary was crushed. He miserably slept on the couch for days until things got even worse: he was soon pushed to move out of the house entirely by not his wife Katelynn and his close friend Ralph.
That's right! Katelynn was seeing Gary's good friend: Ralph. She seemed happy with him, and they combined led Gary to move into a nearby motel (his friends either refused or were unable to take him in) until he could find a permanent residence.
How humiliating. Being kicked out of your own home by your cheating wife and your best friend! Fortunately, one ability that Gary was not stripped of was Katelynn's allowing him to visit his son, Richard. Ralph didn't move in with Katelynn, but stayed at his own house. Gary was grateful, but, understandably, still very unhappy.
A bit over two weeks passed. The divorce had yet to actually go through. Gary had yet to lose his temper. He just took everything that life was throwing at him. I told him that he needed to take control, but he refused, contending that things would get better for him.
But they only got worse.
Ralph was killed in a car accident on his way to work after these two weeks. He was crossing an intersection and was swiftly struck by a speeding teenage driver. Coincidentally, Gary also got in a car accident at roughly the same time. Except, Gary's accident was rather meager, and only resulted in his insurance going up. Gary was alerted of his friend's death within an hour of its happening, and was asked by his wife to rush home and comfort her. He did. How very humiliating...
To make matters worse, Gary was urged by his wife to pay for Ralph's funeral, and did. Yes, he fucking did. Way to add insult to injury, amirite??? Ralph's estate was in probate at the time of his death, oddly enough, and so [B]somebody[/B] had to do it. Why that somebody ended up being Gary, I don't know. But he went through with it. And now he's moving back in with his wife. He has yet to truly confront the situation.
Also there's been talk around the school of him possibly losing his job. But that's pretty unlikely, really. He's a good teacher.
So tell me, Facepunch: what should I tell Gary to do??? He had no confidence or self-respect, but he is a good person. He just needs to get forced into conflict, really - otherwise he'll avoid it at all costs. So, what should I do?
P.S. - it is purely coincidence that Gary and Garry have strikingly similar names.
Tell him the Bitch is a user and he should move on?
Your friend is a pretty optimistic guy
I'd have beer with him
Tell him to avoid his Ex like the plague.
To many people like him are mis-treated,
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