All Comments on 'Rob and Several Ladies'

I still enjoyed the story and gave it 5*, but it was pretty obvious. Thank you for your time and work. I really appreciate it when the really good authors give us something new.

She is renowned for the heat in her kisses yet somehow just always misses being the bride. If never the narrator had really seen her at the conclusion, he would have seen her cry. Just a hard luck woman until JPB finds her a man.

Story sputtered here and there, but author made fair chicken salad out of ...some bland characters. A more classicly inclined author would have delved into enigma of why Kathy just couldn't \ wouldn't choose career over her heart. An acceptable read , however, in end analysis and I thank JPB for sharing.

and learn to live within them, TK U MLJ LV NV

A fun but predictive read. Enjoyable as always.

Thx!

Did describe the perfect asshole. Rob had only one love, himself the male chauvinistic pig. The fact that he does not respect women to have their own career tells me he was not good enough for Kathy. If JPB intended this to be an educational story how not to treat women, then it would be a 5. If he meant what he wrote it is a low 1.

I knew it was going to be Jan at about the half way point.....nice story.

A classic from JPB. The cast of characters was the familiar all-stars, but I did miss Harlina. A very entertaining story, Bob. Nice job, great storytelling and thus, full marks from me. I can't wait to see the Western. Randi.

Bob's protagonists always goes through a lot of women before they find the right one. I feel like a know Pauline and I always hope she comes out on top.

I also want Pauline to have a happy life and win her man.

JPB always takes us on a cool journey. Our hero has a rough trip, but comes out great in the end. Great story.

Then there's hansbwl. What a joke. Every writer and every character not as disgusting and degraded as hansbwl is an "asshole." It seems to me that someone with hansbwl's meager talents would be a little more humble. Judging from the reading public's reaction to the drivel he writes, he seems to be regarded as one of the more anal orifices around.

feels like an amalgam of a half dozen other loving wives stories. Competently written just like all of the other JPB stories, but completely unoriginal.

Great Job! This one had a few more typos than your usual work though,

He put his career above family, too. Otherwise fine little ditty!

Thanks JPB. It's always great to get a new one from you. Keep em coming.

Got through the first couple of pages but then I realized Rob was more fickle than the women in this story. I may come back to it when I'm really bored.

And Rob was honest and consistent about who would be a good match for him. And since about 30% of American mothers are full time stay at home and about 55% say they'd prefer to be, a faithful, honest man with a career on the rise who wants such a woman doesn't generally have all that much trouble finding one who wants to be partnered with him.

Rob's biggest problem was that he kept meeting women who were not a match for him, didn't listen when he told them they were not a match for him and expected him to change for them.

a woman who knows what she wants and goes to get it is suddenly Holy Writ,

But a guy knowing what he wants (a picket fence, a stay at home wife, kids) is somehow a selfish thing? (We will ignore how studies show that what Rob wanted is actually BETTER for the kid. Inconvenient thing, science)

Both are allowed to want what they want. Neither is bad, but it does make them incompatible. Rob, out of the two of them, showed a lot more self awareness than Kathy.

I wonder about the kid. Was it even his?

No turns into yes and yes turns into 'now!' if one is lucky.

And what is acceptable once is not so acceptable later. The career path of many career women is to work her ass off till her mid thirties, see FORTY MORE YEARS of working her ass off, and decide that diapers and Elmo is suddenly a great career choice...if anyone will have them.

So 'trying Kathy on for size' a time or two? Sure, why not. He is getting his knob polished on the cheap, getting laundry done, and who knows...if she blew that VP slot, maybe she might have looked at Chicago a little differently.

is rewriting the same thing over and over and over...

This seemed a lot like another story I've read before. However, I can't remember the title or author and I liked it quite a bit. As I liked this one just as much. Thanks, Bob.

He was always candid about what he wanted in a wife. He didn't try to trick a woman into going along with him. That makes him the opposite of an asshole. He never tried to change them. He explained how his world would work and Kathy was not willing to live in it. He was a pretty decent guy. He found a woman that felt the same way.

One could argue that the asshole is the guy that never tells his dates that he will maim or kill her if she ever strays once they are married. I have yet to see that conversation in a story, and then have the wife accept that promise, and then accept her own death as part of the marriage deal. Most husbands in LW spring that on the wife after the fact. I would advance the theory that there would be less cheating (fewer cheaters) if husbands explained before the actual nuptials that cheating would be answered with death. Part of the vows could feature the husband telling everyone present at the ceremony that if he catches her cheating, he'll cut her fucking heart out! Be up front about your intentions and beliefs!

This isn't a part of all wedding vows? Death and dismemberment is a given, is it not? I distinctly remember my parents having this talk with me. Birds, bees and bullets. I think it's required in all parents.

Then, when you get the new hotter babe, you just casually throw into the proposal, "By the way, you know I'll murder you if you ever disrespect me, right? Just ask the ex." Divorce by capital punishment. It's just so apropos.

I wonder what the opposite of an asshole might be, anatomically speaking. I tried looking up antonyms, but they were all metaphorical. Bonny lad, was my favorite. "Rob was a bonny lad."

You have been doing some good writing lately.

@kimi and HDK

You two are a riot. I would tune in every day just to read your comments. You're usually better than the stories.

Hey Bob,

Just love reading your stories and this one was really really good. I know that it takes a lot of time and effort to produce this caliber of story, but I hope, along with all your other fans, to see another one soon.

Always your fan,

Santacruzman

but he is certainly a MCP. Which is to say that I think that women can have careers and family as well - but they do need partners that can adapt.

Clearly Rob in the story needs the reassurance that the woman in his life will lie down in the proverbial ditch for him... which I suppose might be a reasonable choice for him to want, but I'm less certain about why a woman with self respect might go for it.

I do like the way JPB make Pauline French the way to such skill and chops under the sheets with women that women will follow you around and remember you for years... wonder where Pauline is now?

YMMV - JPB of course has a sense of humor, and so guessing where he lies in the above discussion is a difficult thing to do. I do like HDK and Kimi's humorous take on it.

What works best for family and children? Dicey territory there - shining a light on the actually costs to a family of say, being a deploying military member, makes the various real compromises in life a bit hard to take. Not to speak of being the child of the second trophy wife of a serially cheating billionaire with ego issues...

Just sayin'

Green-something

Seems like I've read it before.

Keep 'm coming!!

vbr

19pvc44

Wow, the author did it again!.....what great story...I just love it all.

I am a married woman and happy mom who just loves my hubby & family, whom once I have decided to follow my HS sweetheart rather than my career as Mkt. director......and I do not regret at all ever since. I am confident I'd done the right choice every time I look at my kids, my house, my husband and my life as is now. I may be a VP of marketing not, but I would be a successful and alone woman, of which it is a pointless!

So I can tell this story is a tremendous life learning.

This author is great and congrats to him!....I am his big fan and please keep writing more stories like that.

Lovely,

KP

Rob knew what he wanted, and shared that with Kathy. Kathy didn't agree, and wanted to change Rob. This relationship would never work, this was the right path. Rob is not a jerk for letting Kathy know what he wanted. He didn't try to change her, nor guilt her.

I know the site proclaims this a new post, but I swear I have read it before. Is it a repost?

Thanks, Bob!

Cheers for Jan, Bob, Jaime and Kathy, They all got what they wanted!

No problem if it is a repost, I get to enjoy it twice.

Wait, Rob is a Male Chauvinist Pig for wanting a Stay at home wife...but she is not a selfish slut for wanting a kept man? A man who is willing to put HIS career on hold just for her?

HE is selfish but SHE is not? Sorry, my daddy taught me better than that.

As stated, neither is wrong. But don't tell me one is selfish and the other isn't just because she lacks a penis.

Well ain't you a phil donahue type of guy

FD45 posted a couple comments you could de-program yourself by reading!

NEWS ALERT!!!!

LORDYSLUMMYDOGGYDOO is lost. Classically Inclined indeed. Doubtful Pulitzer Committee reviews this sites works oh befuddled one!

Was obvious to me when Jan first phoned him that she would end up his wife

about a month or so ago, sometime around one of the Legend days? anyhow

Females do not want equality they strive for superiority.

After thousands of years of male domination in society equality means female domination for at least that long.

They fail to note females have used sex to rule relationships since the APPLE BITING INCIDENT.

James Thurber, certainly no conservative, opined that though he supported feminism he feared females would come to be much much worse than males ever were.

In the late 1950s, Thurber an advocate and great supporter of the women's movement, noted he already saw signs of his ''prophecy'' coming true.

Hold onto them boys! Within 50 years the only males of the human specie will be a selected few breeding stock to revitalize gene pool. Perhapsa better term would be milking stock-genetalia hooked up to pumps and output immediately frozen for future implantation

I read your comment before. Four times. On this story. It was billshit. Every time.

Another JPB winner!

Rob's father had abandoned him and his mother. I can see where having a stable marriage would be important to him.

Boyd Percy

Great story but he is a dick. What is this,the 1950s? He wants his woman...blah. blah blah. Why couldn't he stay and she get her career?

They had incompatible goals in life. She just wouldn't listen when he tried to tell her that.

I feel that Rob was very honest and open about what he was looking for. He made sure that the women he dated knew what he wanted. If they weren't looking for the same, he just moved on.

Kathy seems to be the only one who didn't listen, she's career oriented, but wants a man whose goals in life are the polar opposite of hers. She's not evil just stubborn. She wants to be the dominant one in the relationship and Rob was never going to surrender his dreams for hers.

Neither are wrong, they're just wrong for each other.

Thank you for writing and looking forward to more from you as usual.

I knew how it would turn out about halfway through the story, still, a fun read. I do need to know however, who is Pauline French? She turns up in quite a few of your stories, always after a break-up and she mends the confused broken heart with sex. I wish I knew someone like her when I was in high school.

Well built up and the morals good.

As I see it Kathy wasn't about career or marriage,

but career or family. Big difference there.

No, the only thing bothering me is repetition.

Rob kept telling the ladies the same thing

over and over again.

Without that this story would've got top ratings from me.

Thanks JPB for a very entertaining story.

A good group of characters in this story. good action and dialog to. Compared to much that I have read this month,This is one of ther top 3. Thanks again JPB for being there for us. 4+*

The only part that that actually surprised me was that there actually was a fiance at one point - I had wrongly guessed that he was completely fictional (having never been seen) - still not a bad read.

4/5

kathy was in lala land , she loved her job more than life . Jan was a surprise ending a little far fetched. now bob wrote a story about a man and his family.

Kind of a boilerplate marriage, but they can't all be passionate and romantic and exhilarating. Guess he got what he wanted from Jan, as she did from him. A solid partnership based on mutual goals and respect. More marriages would last longer if they had the same foundation.

Kathy will do just fine, marrying some older top-level executive who's wife and kids are long gone, who will enjoy and support her strive and struggle, and provide a rich soft nest for her to unwind in at the end of the day. After he's dead Kathy will enjoy his money and her business success, and the boy toy's she can dangle along for as long as she needs cock, or just cute company. She was born selfish and she will die in the presence of her favorite person, herself.

Jaime's marriages will be short and disappointing. She may stay friends with Kathy and enjoy some patronage as Kathy moves up the ladder of success. But she will always stay in Kathy's shadow and resent how Jan ended up with the man who should have been willing to kiss her ass. She'll die alone, and bitter.

Bert will end up married to a demanding oppressive bitch who will give him a few kids and lead him around by the nose. Both Bert and the bitch will end up about 50 to 75 pounds overweight and stay married and become cantankerous miserable grand parents until they both die of complications from obesity, alcohol, or cigarette consumption, probably all three.

You're welcome.

Rob never grew up and became a self centered asshole that will never have a long term relationship. His wife will grow weary of his egotistical attitude and eventually dump his ass.

This time JPB didn't fool me. I saw the end coming. I somehow expected Jan's fiancee was a ruse and he never really existed. Now Kathy is ambicious, and it was clear she would choose carier over Rob. Funny thing, most men don't have the dream of having a house, the picked fence, and kids. They usually want hot and frequent sex with a hot and sexy woman. The house and the picked fence are tools to keep the woman happy. The kids a byproduct of good sex. Again, this is JPB story and he chooses the plot and the end. As always at his worst, JPB is above the average writer here.

Self centered a$$hole. Rob or Bob I'm not sure but yeah a$$hole.

But good story.

Is that it is similarly plotted like Bob and the Three B's

Everybody has to sacrifice everything for him. What a jerk!!! It never occurs to him to inconvenience his career a bit . . . total self-absorbed loser.

Worse,Jan probably broke with her fiance over him. She and Rob were, after all, getting emotionally attached from the beginning. I guess she deserves him . . . though as she matures, that marriage won't last long. She'll dump him (after an exit affair or two) and take the kid(s).

Kathy will find someone she's willing to leave her job over, but she won't have to. He will be a real man with genuine strength of character, and they will work out some way for her to have a career and a family, as many truly loving couples have. She will breathe a sigh of relief in the very few instances of which she's reminded of Rob for some reason.

Rob will find some mousy woman heavily into some patriarchal religion that believes it is her godly duty to always submit to him, and he'll be relatively happy in his role as the controlling misogynist head of a cowering family. On the ladder of humanity, he's about two rungs below Bert.

JPB is addictive, isn't he? Both Rob and Kathy valued their careers above marriage so it is good they did not get together, but while Kathy acted like a grown up Rob was one gigantic dummy spit after another. Pity poor Jan.

Great tale. Very familiar but it took nothing away from the tale. Our hero knew what he wanted and, right or wrong, he wouldn't settle for less. I knew he wound up with Jan. And they lived happily ever after. Yeah.

Five Stars

She did exactly what she said she wouldn't do. You're not exactly grown-up if other people know you better than you know yourself.

Was anyone else this mature in high school. I know I was not . I did like the story though.

He did not pose limits in his marriage proposals.

She simply refused. After, she proposed to continue the relationship till the end of the school. She wanted the good relationship, not him. Her reasons are irrelevant. Marriage was simply out of question.

She made clear the first person in her life was herself. Loud and clear.

That is enough by a long shot. Rob made the mistake to give her a second chance. She was never ready to concede anything. I don' see Rob as self-centered. He simply recognized he was accepted only as a prize for the successful woman and nothing more. His reaction was simply human

Didn't work for me at any level. Very disappointing!

maybe, maybe not, but at least he was upfront about it.

He criticizes Kathy for being career oriented but at no point does he consider quitting his job and becoming a stay-at-home dad. Kinda hypocritical if you ask me. With Kathy being VP I'm sure they would make enough money.

as usual. Rob is absolutely correct. Certainly not a Neanderthal nor a misogynist. I do like your stories. thanks for sharing.......

Someone who wants to either have the secondary career in the relationship or to be a stay-at-home parent. She's just not honest about it, not to Rob and probably not to herself.

Rob is determined to be the kind of husband and father that his own father denied his family. He'll never cheat on his wife and never abandon his wife and children. He's also scrupulously honest with everyone he encounters in his life, with the obvious exception of the one person in the story he considers an enemy (Bert). His ideal partner wouldn't have to "change" or "sacrifice" for what he wants in life, because he's looking for someone who wants exactly the same things he does.

Of course, a whole lot of LW stories are based on one partner (usually the wife) changing after the marriage and no longer wanting what the marriage was founded on, and Rob doesn't seem like the kind of person who would deal well with that. So who knows what the future may hold?

Personally, I like Rob's viewpoint. The only think I don't like about Kathy's viewpoint is that she won't "own" it in the context of their relationship. She knows what she wants, but refuses to see that it's incompatible with Rob's desires and life plan. She's entitled to her desires and life plan, of course; she just can't do it and have Rob. Rob can have his life plan and desires, but not with Kathy. He knows it.

When I was in high school, I worked a part-time job with a woman in her late 50s. She told me she loved another man before she married her husband. The first man asked her to move away with him and she refused. Her thoughts on it years later were, "If I have really loved him, I would have moved with him." At the time, I thought the attitude was rather old-fashioned. Today, I understand better how much it had to do with what she put first in her life.

Good story as usual.

He was completely right that if she wanted to compare making out with another guy, of COURSE she’d want to compare fucking another guy. It would still have been wrong, but SLIGHTLY better if she simply went behind his back, but breaking a date with him with a LIE to do it just adds insult to injury.

As we often say in the cheating wives stories, maybe HE’D like to comparison shop, too!

All she had to was either break up completely, or simply for them to agree to not be exclusive.

At least Pauline had the integrity to talk to him upfront.

Engaged doesn’t mean being tied down to being a wife and mother. There’s no expiration date on an engagement. IF post-graduation career plans put a crimp in the relationship, THEN you can always re-visit the engagement.

@hansbwl – Nowhere did it say that HE didn’t respect her enough to have her own career. SHE decided, unilaterally, that her career couldn't withstand even being engaged to him. Never mind marriage.

@green117 – I don’t see ROB saying that she can’t do both. I see HER saying that she sees marriage as a drag on her career.

Kathy had no bitch with Jaime, she had no particular claim on Bob.

Is it chauvinistic for him to ask her to give up her career for him? Maybe, but she wants him, knows what he wants, and says that she’s changed. Then shown that she HASN’T changed!

Actually, the personal harassment isn’t a bullshit complaint. It’s not made particularly clear, but I think that Jaime reports to Kathy. If Kathy is threatening her over a personal issue, that’s DEFINITELY harassment!

I was wondering what happened to Bert!

@Anonymous Re: “Saw it coming” – While I’ll admit to having a sneaky suspicion that Jan’s “fiancé” was bogus, I wasn’t as sure as you were, and it wasn’t a TOTAL ruse.

Interesting that when he mentioned taking her to Chicago, she never mentioned her fiancé.

@Anonymous Re: “Why didn't Rob quit his job?” – He’s NOT hypocritical! He knows the kind of marriage he wants, and as much as he wants Kathy, knows that he can’t have it with her and gives her up. She knows the kind of marriage SHE wants, wants Rob, and is unwilling to accept that she can’t have both!

As he says it may be a little callous, but it’s not like he’s leading her on. It’s not like he’s going to dump her when he goes to Chicago, he’ll be perfectly happy to take her; he’s just pretty sure that she won’t go.

Like many readers I was hoping Kathy would change. Let's face it, some women are married to their career. I married one of those women. Everything was a compromise but I'm obviously less demanding than Rob. There are plenty men married to career also. Wives left alone while husband is on prolonged business trips. It takes a man willing to compromise to make it work with a career woman. Rob wasn't that kind of man. Traditional marriage would never work for Kathy but if she found the right guy that was willing to put her before business... she'd be an awesome partner in life.

Solid 5

Why do I feel that I have read it before?

Shouldn't really have been much of a surprise.

For a marriage to work,both must want the same things. I am a Doctor who married a Teacher. We both wanted a family and she knew that my career would be demanding. She wanted to stay at home with the children and SHE made the decision not to return to teaching. 36 years later we still act like newlyweds. Choose wisely.

...You are a remarkable, storyteller. It is a pity that you don't lend your talent to those authors that are preparing to don your mantle. I would wish that they had the quintessential English/British ability of understatement that goes all the way back to Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer (1387-1400) Thanks for sharing

Stuck with a self centered jerk. Why should Kathy give up her job for Him? Would he give up his for her? Stupid story 2**

I used to like your stories and i was a huge fan. Now you just suck :-(

You don't get it.

Nobody is saying that Kathy SHOULD give up her job. He is HONESTLY saying that he wants his job, and a woman who puts him before her job. Kathy wasn't that woman so he moved on. Jan IS that woman, and she is happy with him.

Kathy's problem is she wants a man who puts her before his job. Rob isn't that man, but she wants him anyway.

There is certainly nothing wrong with her putting her career first, but she needs a man who is comfortable with that, and that's not Rob, and he never led her on to think otherwise.

Good story with interesting characters. Had a feeling that Jan would end up being his wife as soon as she was the only one not interested in him because she had a fiancee.

In a later story,Kathy could show up again,now married to a wimpy cuck who she whips on the weekends.

I feel like there's a lot more typos than normal for your stories, perhaps a bit more time proofreading next time wouldn't be amiss? Or perhaps getting yourself a proofreader.

Also I feel like I've read a fair bit of this story before, especially the confrontation with Jaime.

tour going - your going

home much - how much

the tern - the term

shack job? (haven't heard that expression before, wasn't sure if you meant shag job or not)

schools over - school's over

some pain coming for me - some pain for me

(to avoid repeating 'coming')

choose career - choose your career

that bi of a step - that big of a step

He turned - She turned

Screw him if he can't take a joke? (didn't fit the context, Jan meeting Rob at a bar is in no way a joke, it would fit much much better if she said something about her fiance having to accept that she has a male friend, saying "Screw him" should also have made Rob wonder about her relationship, Rob should also have wondered more about why that fiance never appears. My first thought was that she didn't have a fiance at all, so it didn't surprise me when Rob ended up with Jan.)

over career - over your career

a pigs eye - a pig's eye

to make change - to make a change

but I want to fuck with her first - but I wanted to fuck with her first

your parties extension - your party's extension

well written and for once the guy sees thhe writing on the wall and didn't try to change them or himself to suit them. well done!

Just reasonable adults working things out in a rational way. Of course Rob was going to end up with Jan! I wondered from the get-go whether her 'fiance' was imaginary, but apparently he was real -- just not present.

This story was especially satisfying because most everyone gets pretty much what they want (and deserve) without boatloads of cheating and drama. Well, yeah, there's Bert -- but even he gets what he deserves! ;-)

Thanks!

"Screw/Fuck him if he can't take a joke" is a common expression where I come from to refer to someone who might not like what's going on. It has nothing to do with an actual joke.

Is this a repost of a story? I liked the story but I could swear I have red it before.

Who are you? And what have you done with our beloved JPB?

After letting this jell a while I realized it doesn't mesh with today's job market. Ambitious people get ahead by hopping companies, not by staying put. Rob's character seemed consistent someone who would stay put, he cared more about stability and a family than corporate ambitions. But Kathy would have wanted to move from Dayton (small pond) back to Chicago (big pond) with more and better opportunities. Her answer to Rob would have been she'd start an executive job search, join him when she succeeded. Of course she still wouldn't want to take time off for a family so there would be trouble in the future. And perhaps Rob would have been smart enough to realize that.

HDK's comment about Rob being "moral" by being an upfront asshole. My response (an asshole is an asshole, upfront about it or not) was focused on Robs requirement based on an assumption that he has the right to ask Kathy to give up her ambitions for him i.e. Male - certainly, Chauvinist - in this case, sticking up for male prerogative (i.e. preference) in career, Pig - see, asshole. I was being unclear, I suppose... but being honest about your stupid and contemptible personhood doesn't make you any less stupid and contemptible... so:

HDK - why does being flagrant about one's assholery make one not an asshole? Surely examples of that kind of thing come easily to mind? So this is really important question to answer for all of us.

A deeper read on the story has two interactions between Kathy and Rob - in the first case, she told him she wasn't going to marry to pursue her career (after, btw, he blew off "seeing her family" because he couldn't take time off work) - which, since they were just graduating college seems rather mature for what seemed like a bunch of kids. Rob was feeling burned, and when Karen wanted another go, instead of seeing if there were a possible compromise, he burned her butt -

"You aren't being fair Rob." "Maybe not to you Kat, but I am to me. I will not put myself in a position where you can hurt me again." followed by - "I made a decision that might seem callous to many and in fact it probably was, but I was going to get back together with her and have as much of her as I could before going back to Chicago." .... and then leave her when he didn't get what he wanted.

Lots of games in the story - Jan was being a bit of a slime playing all of the girls in the office against each other, Bert was being a slime by playing the girls who were with Rob... I am more sympathetic for Kathy, who wanted Rob and wanted to see if a compromise could be reached from a position where they were back together.

So - FD, I was not saying that Kathy was clean here necessarily - but in the college graduation scene if Rob gets a free pass for being clear on his goals, then she gets a free pass for being clear on hers. In the second encounter Rob was being butt hurt and she wanted to reopen negotiations, which he entered into in bad faith. YMMV. I apologize for being unclear - I thought I wrote what I was thinking. JPB does try to keep things ambiguous - thinking there are clear and obvious "good guys" and "bad guys" in his work is kinda risky.

Of course the anonymice that followed FD were incoherent and idiotic - but a fan of FD! Sir, I'd kinda be afraid of that.... if what you post filtered through poorly controlled ids are supporting their problems, there may be a problem. I suspect that is not your intent.

Otherwise the story was fun - Pauline French - gotta want her in your background, n'est ce pas? The scheming of the "girls" seemed high school madness, but has a frantic fun about it. The leads were not sympathetic to me - he was pretty sanctimonious at heart, she was kinda entitled on her side.

But that is life.

Green-something

(oh yeah - Donahue... did you know that the Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death ate the Donahue tribe? In either oyster or orange sauce, if memory serves... and when Adrienne Barbeau [man, there's a hottie] was in town for a premier of a movie she was in, I asked my wife to get her to sign my DVD of CWitAJoD? My wife is at many of the mover and shaker events in town... anyway, she said that Ms. Barbeau broke out laughing when she was asked to sign.... which is to say, annoying anonymice, ya gotta do a whole lot better than that to get my goat.)

In fact, he was certain that she never would, and that was why she was not the right woman for him. Everything he said to her was his attempt to make her see that and give up on trying to get him back. And even that was only after he had tried multiple times to explain to her why he wasn't going to take her back.

The only real mistake Rob ever made with Kathy was he allowed his other brain to make the decision to move in with her for seven months. But at least that lapse in judgement only lasted one paragraph in the story.

I respectfully disagree. Rob wasn't asking Kathy to give up anything for him. He knew that she couldn't/wouldn't, that's why he moved on.

NEITHER one was wrong. They both knew what they wanted, the difference was that KATHY wanted Rob to give up his dreams for her; I can't remember exactly, but I do think Rob did ask her, but he knew she wouldn't. When she wouldn't, he didn't pressure her, he wished her well and moved on.

That's not being an asshole. Being an asshole would be continuing to lead her on knowing that their future dreams were incompatible.

Rob did not want to give up HIS dreams, and he put HIS job above his (supposed) love for Kathy. Further, he seemed unwilling to compromise. Now granted, she might have been unwilling too, but we can't tell, because anytime she says she didn't want to give up HER job, he'd immediately shut everything down. So obviously he was unwilling to consider compromise or negotiation. As written she might have been. He assumed because she wouldn't do EVERYTHING his way, that SHE was the one being stubborn. Since he was the one shutting her down for his needs, with NO room for compromise, he's the ass.

Not sure where this took place that so many women in this story find his intransigent, chauvinistic attitude attractive . . . unless maybe they're the gold-digger type . . . marry him, have kids, watch him become successful, then divorce him and get half of everything . . . then live the good life off the gullible, selfish twit.

This might be Jan, but hopefully not. I'd guess she matures, becomes more independent, and finds his attitude tiresome after a while, and also feels it sets a bad example for the kids. He'll refuse to compromise on his behavior . . . or even discuss it. So she'll leave. It'd be fun if she ended up working at Kathy's company.

He's not going to do too well with the brighter, more ambitious and motivated women where he works either. Unless the place he works is still bogged down in the 'old boy's network' mode, don't count on his continued success there for too much longer.

Be fun if his company was bought by (or merged with) Kathy's company, and he was phased out due to his known history of being unwilling to compromise, and his closed minded attitude towards women who might disagree with him. Just after he gets let go, Kathy could express her regret that he hadn't been willing to stay in town with her. He's divorced from Jan, his company's headquarters were now down here anyway, and he could also have done well if he'd taken some other job in the area. Instead, he's now living near her, but with no real career opportunities, and a bad rep due to attitude.

Like he's holding a gun to any of these ladies' heads. It's not like he's the only man in town. He's not a bad person for wanting what he wants, if he's honest and upfront about it. He's not forcing any woman to give up her career, he just doesn't want a marriage with a driven career woman. If that's important to her, he's not the man for her, and that's okay. People are allowed to be picky with whom they form a lifelong commitment. To do otherwise in a case like this would be pretty foolish and end up with two very unhappy people and two divorce attorneys reaping the benefits.

Once Kathy told him why she wouldn't marry him in college, he didn't try and manipulate her into changing her mind. He moved on, like she should have done a lot sooner. Instead, she tried to pretend that she had changed when in fact, she hadn't. That doesn't make HIM the asshole.

Nice story, Bob.

Cog

Where can there be compromise? He wants to stay in Dayton and work on his career there. She wants to go to Chicago to pursue her career. He didn't ASSUME anything, she made it QUITE clear that she was going to Chicago and wanted him to go with her.

There is nothing indicating that he has any animus towards bright, ambitious, motivated women.

As I've said before, although he would have LIKED her to put aside her career ambitions to stay with him, he never pressured her, and when she made it clear that she wouldn't, he wished her well and moved on.

She knew he was planning on moving to Chicago when his promotion came through, but still was making plans for marriage, KNOWING that she wouldn't go with him. She hoped to trap him with hot sex and it didn't work. It's all on her.

I don't see any problems ahead for him, because he's not a sexist in his overall attitudes. If he has to work with a "Kathy" he'll be able to do it with full respect for his abilities.

As far as Jan goes, he has shown no opposition to any particular independence on her part, and SHE pursued him with full knowledge of what he was looking for in a wife, so if she has any issues it's on her. Besides, unlike you, I don't see him having any issues with accommodating her wishes, and I see Jan settling happily into her Mom role.

Next to last paragraph should have read, "with full respect to HER abilities."

Just looking back at the story where they meet up again in Dayton.

SHE'S the one that realizes that giving him up was a big mistake and regrets it. KNOWING that he, and more importantly SHE, hasn't changed, she pursues him anyway!

She talks about Fate giving her a second chance, but knows, or SHOULD know, that her feelings vis-a-vis marriage and career haven't changed, so why would she think she'll have better luck with a second chance?

I do think that he was wrong to move in with her when he knew they were probably not going to work it out. I might cut him a LITTLE slack because there WAS a SLIGHT chance that she might change her mind.

Rob was self centered and was determined to obtain the life he wanted. He explained to everyone that would listen what he wanted in a wife. If he gave that up to placate a woman that felt the same, he'd have been miserable. There are women out there that would be quite happy to be the type of wife he wanted, so why settle? He was upfront about it. I didn't see that he was an asshole. He treated his wife well and they were happy.

While I admire Rob's tenacity for pursuing the "American Dream", I have to think he just sort of settled with the first woman that said yes to his marriage proposal. His unwillingness to compromise may spell disaster in the future for him. Hopefully he'll have a happy and successful marriage and life.

Riveting!! Even though I guessed along the way what the outcome would be I enjoyed following along with the poor guy In his search for the perfect wife. While anyone can critique his character flaws I appreciate the author standing his ground and keeping the reader engaged

95 comments!! I always look for Just Plain Bob stories as I know to expect a good read

Before I start - JPB clearly tries to keep the characters and situations as morally ambiguous as possible - probably since, as can be seen here, it tends to build interest. Using the text as a model of correct behavior is then, problematic.

@sbrooks - thanks - I can do respect.

From the quoted text I included previously, he did lead her on, and so... "Being an asshole would be continuing to lead her on knowing that their future dreams were incompatible." .... the guy's an asshole.

Which kinda gets me to @HDK... your response might be apropos if the power relationship was balanced... apparently Kathy wanted him more than he wanted her. He decided to lead her on 'cause she dressed rather nicely. She, possibly, thought a compromise might be in the offing if she made a good enough run of the reattachment - Rob was stuck in his previous decision. Bad times for her - he got laid for his 6 months. Was he certain he wouldn't change his mind? Did he convince her that he wouldn't change his mind? Clearly not - the relationship was always going to come in second to his career... and so I wouldn't want to be a woman raising a child with him.

In the real world, power is rarely balanced, and so a higher level of moral behavior might be nice to have - is the other person constrained by other considerations? If so, then "I told you I was going to take advantage of you" isn't going to white wash the decision.

Of course, in the real world Pauline French isn't around to teach killer oral technique, and a woman who was going to be a VP would have told him that he was right, they were not suited for each other. In the real world, killer oral technique is secondary to really expensive lifestyle in convincing someone of your attractiveness - and so you get arrogant tycoons rather than arrogant French graduates.

Well, I am educated about attitudes I suppose. If I tell an employee, upfront, that their job was dependent on their making their SO available to me, then I am not being an asshole? Live and learn I guess.

Thanks for the discussion.

Green-something

(Jan? I'm not sure who I feel more pity for - Jan, for who she chose (but he does know French! and she did play the long game to get him) or Rob, who will certainly get taken to the cleaners ("I gave up my life and career for him!") if (50% chance, if not more) he and Jan get divorced...)

Where in the story did he ever tell her he might consider not going back to Chicago when he got that promotion?

She pursued him with the expectation that she could change what he told her more than once he would not change. Or perhaps in the hope that his career goal would fail. When does that ever turn out well?

This story of yours', of all of them that I have read, has left me rooting and feeling for no one but the Jan character. I just think Rob is an asshole and I can't get past that thought. I actually read all the comments to determine if I was missing something more. @HDK and @Green probably focused my thoughts on Rob's decision to have what he wants and apparently that is all that matters. I just wonder if after 15-20 years how likely it would be for Jan to tell him to get the fuck out of her life. I don't see any type of successful marital relationship when one partner is seemingly incapable of compromise. All-in-all I just see a future of increasing unhappiness in Rob and Jan's relationship. And heaven forbid that he has his "vision" of expectations for their children.

“Before I could say anything our food arrived and we ate in silence until our plates were clean.”

Really? In what strange corner of the world do people behave like that at dinner?

I dunno. Hungry people? People who don't talk with their mouth full of partially masticated food? Why should I care about the mealtime behavior of imaginary people? Good story, Bob.

Wow, was this in the 50's or something? This guy is an arrogant ass, lucky Kathy to escape the idiot.

Exactly my thought. Thank you. I couldn't have said it better.

I liked the story. He knew what he wanted and stick to his goal. He didn't want to compromise the visión he had for his own future. I have read too many stories about "loving wives" who put their careers before their marriage to know that he did the right choice.