Thursday, May 15, 2008

Is revenge sweet? Or sour?




A UK man has taken out the ultimate revenge against his former partner by, wait for it, advertising her for sale on ebay.
Jealous hubby Paul Osborn offered up his “cheating, lying, adulterous slag of a wife” for sale after suspecting she was having an affair (which she denies).
Paul compounded the agony for his wife of 24 years Sharon, by posting an unflattering photo of her, apparently pulling a face and picking her nose.
Granted, Paul later had second thoughts about selling his estranged wife, and took the ad down, but not before police began investigations into harassment.
Is it ever okay to take revenge against an ex? Even if they deserve it?
Look, I totally understand the anger and rage that can be sparked when the person you love treats you abominably. But taking revenge usually just makes things much worse – for you, as well as for your former lover.
You’re the one who comes off looking childish, mad, pitiful or crazy. You’re the one who will have to endure details of your messy relationship becoming fodder for gossip. And ultimately, you’re prolonging the agony of your split rather than putting that energy into moving on.
I think most of us have entertained thoughts of revenge at some stage or another. Who wouldn’t want to make a bonfire out of a cheating hubby’s best suits, or wee in the wine bottle of an unfaithful wife (and trust me – people I talked to when I wrote Happily Ever Parted admitted to doing just that!)
Not everyone is quite so restrained though.
Here are a few other real-life cases of revenge:
- An angry UK wife sold her radio star’s $50,000 sports car on ebay for a few dollars after he told an model on-air that he’d leave his wife and kids for her
- A US woman deliberately rammed her husband’s prized car into another car to destroy it. (Must be something about men and their cars)
- A German man decided to finalise his property settlement by chain sawing the marital home in half, and taking his half away on a truck.
- A US couple – neither of whom wanted to leave their Brooklyn home – had a dividing wall built inside the house, and continued living under the same roof.
- More recently, Tricia Smith tried to humiliate her millionaire husband Phillip Smith in a taped rant she then put up on uTube. Among other cringe-worthy moments, she actually calls his office and asks his secretary what he wants her to do with the pile of porn, Viagra and condoms she found in their bedroom.
- And long-suffering cricket widow Simone Warne gave magazine New Idea copies of incriminating text messages her ex-husband Shane Warne sent to another woman.
Look people, I know divorce is tough, but take a deep breath, and let it go. Bitch to your friends, family or a counsellor whenever you need to, but don’t make a fool of yourself to make someone else suffer.
Because the person who will get hurt the most is probably going to be you.
It’s an old cliché, but it’s one I truly believe in: The best revenge is moving on, finding happiness and living well.
Anyone else got any thoughts on revenge?

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