I thought I'd heard every possible break up story my girlfriends could tell.
I was wrong.
A friend of mine — ah yeah, you don't know her — had a relationship a few years back that she was pretty excited about. On a road trip with her man through the Virginia countryside, talk turned to the idea of buying a dog together. My friend jokingly suggested that they buy a cow instead. A few weeks later, he buys her a fish that he's named "Cow." Adorable right?
I was wrong.
A friend of mine — ah yeah, you don't know her — had a relationship a few years back that she was pretty excited about. On a road trip with her man through the Virginia countryside, talk turned to the idea of buying a dog together. My friend jokingly suggested that they buy a cow instead. A few weeks later, he buys her a fish that he's named "Cow." Adorable right?
A few weeks after that, seemingly out of the blue, he breaks up with her. My friend is devastated but retains custody of Cow. Fresh off the break-up, she felt she couldn't give Cow the home he deserved and asked her parents to adopt Cow. Soon after, Cow tragically passed away. I suspect suicide, he had a lot of his own stuff going on. Knowing how special Cow was to my friend, her father couldn't bring himself to simply flush Cow into fish heaven. So he puts Cow in the freezer.
Eventually he does break the news to my friend but she just wasn't emotionally ready to deal with Cow's death. So she has her dad put Cow back in the freezer where he stays for the next two years.
Holy symbolism Batman.
In relationships, how often do we put the fish in the freezer?
From dodgy conversations about a relationship status, to moving in together, to having kids, to problems in the bedroom, it's always easier to simply put the fish in the freezer. And we have a laundry list of reasons for why it's better to avoid the issue: we don't want to start a fight, we need more time, heck, maybe the problem will work itself out, like a bad haircut or the conflicts in Egypt.
Eventually he does break the news to my friend but she just wasn't emotionally ready to deal with Cow's death. So she has her dad put Cow back in the freezer where he stays for the next two years.
Holy symbolism Batman.
In relationships, how often do we put the fish in the freezer?
From dodgy conversations about a relationship status, to moving in together, to having kids, to problems in the bedroom, it's always easier to simply put the fish in the freezer. And we have a laundry list of reasons for why it's better to avoid the issue: we don't want to start a fight, we need more time, heck, maybe the problem will work itself out, like a bad haircut or the conflicts in Egypt.
In theory, your respective fish could stay in the freezer forever. In fact, recent studies found that 7 out of 10 households have the remains of a departed goldfish in their freezers. But when said fish is addressed, we all suddenly turn into teenagers caught with a bag of weed, "I'm, uh, just holding that for a friend!"
