Single for a Reason

Stephanie Strayer was riding the train from Philadelphia when she allegedly overheard a man loudly bragging to his friends about the extramarital affairs he was having, and how stupid his wife was for not figuring it out. This allegedly went on for quite some time. Outraged by his pompous and piggish display, Stephanie Strayer snapped a photo of the braggard and posted on Facebook with the following message:

“If this is your husband, I have endured a 2 hour train ride from Philadelphia listening to this loser and his friends brag about their multiple affairs and how their wives are too stupid to catch on. Oh please repost …”

At the time of posting this, Strayer’s photo has had 262,849 shares on Facebook!

Bloggers and social commentators have been talking about the story in the past couple of days and questioning the roles of social media, cheating, privacy, etc. It’s an increasingly relevant topic for discussion.

It should go without saying that we are 100% on Strayer’s side…

The guy’s reported behavior was not only gross, it was rude to other passengers. I’d say it’s impressive Strayer didn’t go further and confront him for being a pig.

Online communication and cell phones and social media are impacting interpersonal relationships more than ever. It is said that something like 1 in 3 divorces are now caused by Facebook. Some people have said it’s not fair to post the photo of the man and relay his claims of audultery because there’s a possibility he wasn’t telling the truth, and just lying to impress his friends. Well if I was his wife, I would want to know that too, because that would show me that my husband was a juvenile asshole. By broadcasting his claims in a public place, he knowlingly opened himself up to scrutiny by speaking loudly and about a topic that nearby passengers could clearly find objectionable.

For the woman married to the man in the photo (if he is married), I understand that catching wind of this story through social media or the news could be extremely embarassing and upsetting. Given the tone of her caption, it is clear to me that Strayer (pictured right) posted the photo the way she did because she did not know the man’s wife. If she did, I’m sure she would have gone to her directly with this information. Her use of social media was the only way she could think of to try to get the info back to the wife.

I’ve been cheated on before. It was extremely painful and heartbreaking, and though it was hard to hear, I am forever grateful to the friend who had the guts to tell me what was going on. I felt really deceived by other people who had caught wind of my boyfriend’s cheating and chose not to tell me. I think Strayer is great for uploading the photo and message and I’m so glad it has been shared as much as it has.

The ladies of ABC’s “The View” discussed this story on today’s episode. While most of the women agreed with Strayer, they engaged in a good debate about the incident. You can watch their discussion here.

What would you have done in this situation? Have you been in a similar situation dealing with infidelity? Click below to submit a comment. And send in your thoughts and stories anonymously to submit@singleforareason.com.

SFAR