OzTennis

They don't mention BE's!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspap...968096,00.html

Warning: that computer could crash a marriage
John Harlow, Los Angeles

READING e-mail at 3am, playing online games for hours on end and relentlessly downloading pop or pornography from the internet have turned the home computer into the most dangerous threat to marriage to have emerged over the past 30 years, US lawyers claim.
The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, which represents 1,600 divorce specialists, is to publish a booklet of marital advice that will include a stark warning that the humble PC is a potential home-wrecker.

Two-thirds of the academy’s lawyers said the PC had played a significant role in “alienating the affections� of one or both spouses in some of their cases.

While traditional causes of friction, from money worries to breakdowns in communication, retain their importance as factors in America’s 50% divorce rate, the home computer has made it easier to find new romance.

The survey showed that in the cases affected by the computer, 68% of unfaithful spouses had met their lover over the internet.

Sandra Morris, a San Diego divorce lawyer, said 10% of her clients were men who walked out on their wives and children only when they had established another relationship. “These are shy people who may never have met another person before the invention of the internet chat room,� said Morris.

“In the past they may not have been perfectly happy, but they would have stayed married and maybe worked out their problems. The computer is the fastest-growing threat to marriage I have seen in 34 years as a divorce lawyer.�

Pornography, which helped drive the development of ever-faster personal computers during the 1990s, is another element. Some 56% of aggrieved spouses claim an “obsessive interest in pornographic sites� ruined their relationships.

The guilty parties are not always men. Richard Barry, a divorce lawyer near San Francisco and president of the academy, said he had recently dealt with an emotionally wounded husband who discovered that his wife was hiding files of explicit photographs on his computer.

Most men are caught out when website subscriptions disguised as suspiciously bland memberships appear on their credit card bills.

But pornography is far from being the only problem of its kind. A recent report on Kazaa, an online music service, said 10m of its users spent more than 30 hours a week downloading pop tunes.

Computer games such as Sony’s EverQuest, in which up to 400,000 people pretending to be elves and wizards fight each other simultaneously, can last all night. More than 1m Britons, mostly men in their twenties and thirties, play such games at weekends.

Barry said the computer had become a new refuge from family stresses. “But both men and women can get up to a lot of mischief online, such as tracking down lost high-school loves and rekindling romances that may seem a lot more exciting than the lives they live today.�

While celebrities such as David Bowie, Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio have admitted to day-long internet binges, Barry said such usage should be negotiated between couples before it gets out of hand. “Like all technologies — like TV and the car — it can be both a blessing and a curse,� he said. “The trick is to get off the computer and see if anybody is still at home.�

OzTennis

MrsDagboy

Ohhh boy, I saw the bit about porno in the 1st sentence & then read those last 2 words wrong & had to re-read it

OzTennis

63 views and only Mrs D's comment!

OzTennis

Timber Floor Au

IM STILL READING IT pmsl !!!

tiredwithtwins

here is a brief transcript of an arguement between me and t##tface last night;
him-you on that bloody computer again?
me-yeah, so what?
him-youre always on it, spose your on that australia one again?
me-er yeah but so what?
him-your always on it
me-so what?
him-...(silence)...
me-ok, i'll come off it. what now?
him-...(another silence)...
me-ok. can I go back on it now?
him-...(silence, but now sulking)...
me-...(annoyed by now)...so whats the alternative? sitting in front of the tv all night? you cant hold a conversation so thats out of the question...you come in from work,ignore the kids and me and just sit in front of the tv all night, sometimes without saying a word to anyone! so yes, i am on that bloody computer again. divorce me if you dont like it!!

you get tyhe picture???

tv/sky is responsible for breaking up marriages, the computers are just a way of shifting the blame!!!!!!!

sorry, rant over. my apologies for swearing

sue

OzTennis

Sue

A few nights without the TV/Sky or the PC and a good chat seems called for?? Or perhaps you could go onto BE together and show him what you are up to while he is watching the footy or whatever? Good luck.

OzTennis

tiredwithtwins

he needs a kick up the proverbial...!!!

thanks for your concern

sue

MrsDagboy

Tartface? Tootface?

The kick sounds painful, he might prefer to talk after all

Pollyana

Normal night here:
Bloke "You on Expats again"
Polly "Yep"
Bloke "Come here and watch this stunning war film in black and white from 1826. It stars Bert Dumbledore and his cousin Fred Widgit"
Polly "Think I'll pass thanks"
Bloke "oh go on"
Polly gives in and moves to sofa.......

10 minutes later ............

Polly "You asleep?"
Bloke "snnnnnnooooooorrrrrrre"
Polly "I'll go back to Expats then"

Polly goes back to computer......
Bloke snores for an hour, waking when TV is switched off, then moves to bed where he lies diagonally for 2 hours forcing Polly to spend even longer on Expats!

Pollyana

Sue, you describe it just as I live it.......
One thing that I don't think has ever been mentioned here - all you Brits who know exactly what Sue means by t**tface - its not a word they use here!!! I had Pommy friends who tipped me off about it, and I have since used the word a couple of times, only to get a confused "Errr, is that an insult, whats it mean"!!!!

(Mrs D, having lived in the UK, probably knows it however, and is exempt from this generalisation!! )

bundy

LOL!!!!

The insight we get to the world of Pollyana and Bloke.....


I sypathise with the diagonal bit though.

We don't have internet access at home so I have to restrict my BEing to working hours. Otherwise I'm sure Mr Bundy would get the hump.

OzTennis

Ditto, we watch TV/Sky together at home. The Australian Open tennis is on for the next fortnight and it starts each day at 11.00 pm on British Eurosport and runs continuously until 7.00 pm the next day - for a fortnight!:scared: 32 degrees today and hardly a cloud in the sky.

OzTennis

bundy

Cricket. That's what gets me. Mr Bundy spends all night up watching the cricket and forgets to sleep for weeks making him particularly grumpy.

ANA123

lol Bundy, mine does that too, no doubt all the big tests will be in Europe as soon as we get to Oz

It can only get worse there for me as it'll be football, rugby (both codes), cricket, tennis, athletics, aussie rules and anything else with a competitive element.

bundy

Yep, with you on that. Except the football. No soccer allowed in our house, which is fine, because I can't stand it either. He was up watching triathlon the other night....Is it me, I wonder???!!