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Swami Dearest I started dating this great girl three weeks ago, but ever since she went to a palm reader, she's been acting really weird. She explained that her feelings for me haven't changed, but the palm reader lady brought up something she thought was under control (related to her "regression"), and said we need to take things slowly. She insisted I keep calling and emailing her, but she goes through days where she only writes back or picks up the phone sporadically. Other times, she's her old self, responding right away. Do I try to ride this out, or back off and let her figure things out?

--Psychic Limbo


You ask a girl to a movie, and she has to have some lady feel up her palm before she can give you an answer? And based on what? That lady's proven ability to rent a storefront, hang a neon hand in the window, and use vague, flattering statements to part fools and their money? Believing in this is like swallowing the sucker-bait of those TV-land mediums (debunked by James Randi) who pass off rapid-fire guessing games as evidence of their ability to act as human antennae for messages from the dead. Conveniently, the dead seem to confirm only that you once had a little white dog, or other stuff you already know; they never tell you anything really useful, like where they buried their rare coin collection or who to bet on in the Super Bowl.

The "regression" this girl mentioned is most likely "past-life regression," the lucrative, it's-all-in-your-head travel agency sideline of many a strip-mall seer. Just close your eyes and hold out your Mastercard, and you might learn that it wasn't Mommy but mummy you should blame for the mess you are today. Yes (and kindly avoid howling with laughter), back when you were a janitor at the pyramids, it seems some nasty pharaoh ordered you sealed in to keep his queen company until somebody could haul her out, stick her in a museum, and invite people in to admire her shriveled remains. Proof? You ask for proof? This is spiritual stuff! Don't be crass!

Like the dinner guest who begged my friends to rearrange their living room furniture so it wouldn't be "bad for her aura," being cartoonishly irrational doesn't make this girl a bad person, just a bad person to be with. A case in point: You've dated her three weeks, and you already have centuries of baggage. "Have a nice day," you say? Oops, bad idea. She bursts into tears. "How could you say such a thing?! Just a few lifetimes ago, I was in Pompeii, and you're telling me to have a nice day? You ever have a nice day while being smothered in ash?!"

Consider making rationality a requirement in a potential partner -- right up there with the ability to walk upright and use utensils while eating. Tempted as you may be to shrug off her compulsion to look for easy answers, it's hard enough to make it work with somebody whose decision-making doesn't involve third-party analysis of the flesh fold under their thumb. My prediction? You'll avoid a whole lot of misery if you back off -- permanently -- from this girl or any girl who considers palmistry more than an amusing party game or a conduit to an expert opinion on whether to switch to a less drying brand of hand soap.

Posted by aalkon at October 18, 2005 1:00 PM

Comments

>>>A case in point: You've dated her three weeks, and you already have centuries of baggage.>>>

OMG that is Funny, and to the point.
Rationality as a requirement in a potential partner is a good starting point.

My sister-in-law is always seeking answers from seers and other magic and it drives the rest of us crazy. I understand it's because she was never taught by her parents that she had anything of value inside her. She has to believe that outside "magic" can solve problems because she doesn't beleive she has the ability to do anything herself. It helps me not strangle her, but I'd tell someone on teh 3rd date to be very careful about getting involved with someone with such low self-esteem. The problems will manifest themselves in many worse ways than spending lots of $ on seers.

Posted by: cosmicmojo at January 5, 2006 12:01 PM

*** I started dating this great girl three weeks ago...Other times, she's her old self, responding right away. ***

How can you know what her old self was if you were only dating her for three weeks? Even if you knew her as a friend before... you've only known her as a girlfriend for less than a month? What do you know about her old self? Evidently, this IS her self, and she likes palmistry, and you're not into it.

My guess is if she didn't already feel in her heart she needed to take things slow, she wouldn't have listened to the palm reader. My guess is if she's dating a guy three weeks and he's already saying, "You're nothing like your old self from two weeks ago!" things are probably moving much too fast.

Slow down! She's right! You ARE moving too fast.

*** but she goes through days where she only writes back or picks up the phone sporadically ***

How do you know this? How many times a day are you calling this poor girl? Do you really need to talk to her every day? An email isn't enough?!! You've been dating for THREE WEEKS!!!

So, during week one she called you every day... because you were brand-new, duh! She had momentum! Now she's gotten to know you a teensy bit better, and since she has a life, she can't constantly talk to you all day. Maybe she's a student, maybe she has a job, maybe she's a socialite who needs to socialize... but if a girl isn't answering your calls... it means you are calling TOO MUCH! So, back off.

Her palmistry hobby isn't the issue so much as a guy who thinks dating for three weeks is a commited relationship.

Posted by: Nicole Shields at March 23, 2006 3:41 AM

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