Why Cheating in Relationships Should Never Be Condoned

In the context of a relationship, I’m one of those men who, if I’m with you, I’m with you. It might take me forever to commit, but once I’m there, you’ve got me. So if I should get to a point where I’m looking to cheat, it’s the end of the road for us.

Man in bed smiling into a smartphone while his partner is asleep (stock image).

Cheating in relationships is something I’ll never do because I know what it’s like to date someone who cheats. That’s enough reason for me to avoid cheating on someone else. If someone cheats with you, they will cheat on you. This has always been my viewpoint, and I stick to it.

I’ve known George (not his real name) since he was a boy. He has a virtuous and steady wife and two beautiful daughters. Last November, George invited me to Sierra Leone over Christmas with two sisters, one of whom he was sleeping with. When I asked why, he said, “Oh, sometimes you just want Fish & Chips.”

I asked him what he would do if one of his daughters married a cheating man. He said he wouldn’t interfere but wouldn’t be pleased either. When I asked him what he would do if his wife cheated on him, he laughed it off, saying that men are supposed to have multiple wives. I told him that he was cheating on the mother of his children and the woman he shared a home with, and I wouldn’t collude in his deception. George fumbled for words.

He then told me how he dumped a former mistress who wouldn’t abort his child, knowing he was married. This made me feel disappointed in the man George had become. He is a serial adulterer who doesn’t care enough to take precautions against STDs. I wouldn’t want him to marry any daughter of mine.

My father regularly cheated on my mother and sometimes took me along for bragging rights. I have no idea what motivated his philandering. But my earliest memory is of being carried by my dad across our snow-covered backyard at night to enter our house through the kitchen. My mother had double-locked the front door. When I mentioned this to my mother once, she was astonished that I remembered it. My father’s cheating in relationships led to their separation and affected me deeply.