Dating in your thirties is supposed to be about finding an equal partner. You look for someone who shares your values, splits the bills, and acts like a fully formed adult. But sometimes, a grown man decides to date someone barely out of college and then expects her to act as his own personal cheerleading squad. One guy recently took to Reddit to complain about his younger girlfriend, and the sheer level of emotional immaturity on display is truly something to behold.
The Original Poster is a thirty year old man who has been dating his twenty one year old girlfriend, Jean, for about a year. Right off the bat, that nine year age gap raises some serious eyebrows. He openly admits that he is currently stuck in a dead end job and is incredibly unhappy with where his life is heading. Meanwhile, he describes Jean as hot, successful, and cool. She clearly has her life completely put together while he is drowning in self pity.
Because he is so miserable at work, he relies heavily on Jean to keep his ego inflated. He loves hearing her talk him up and tell him how awesome he is doing. He actually refers to her compliments as his “power words.” He claims that knowing someone as successful as Jean thinks he is doing a good job gets him fired up and helps him survive his dead end job. He basically treats his younger girlfriend like an emotional support animal.
The delicate balance of his fragile ego shattered during a recent virtual hangout. The couple was on a Zoom meeting with a group of their friends, just trying to have a nice time together. One of their friends, Trish, casually mentioned that she was feeling really nervous about an upcoming driving exam. Being a supportive and normal human being, Jean chimed in to reassure her friend and build her confidence.
This is where the Original Poster completely lost his grip on reality. While comforting her nervous friend, Jean dared to use the exact same supportive phrasing she normally uses to hype up her boyfriend. She used a common, nice adjective. Instead of being happy that his girlfriend is a kind person who uplifts her friends, the thirty year old man took it as a massive personal attack.
He got incredibly upset and immediately deployed the silent treatment. He sat there silently pouting for the entire rest of the movie they were watching. When Jean finally noticed his weird mood and asked him what was wrong, he decided to hit her with his unhinged truth. He looked at his sweet, supportive girlfriend and accused her of wasting his special power words on other people.
He actually sat there and argued that he needs those words the most. He complained that when she calls him the most incredible guy ever, and then turns around and calls her friend incredible too, it completely breaks his heart. He whined that it is really disheartening and makes him feel like absolutely nothing she says to him is real. He essentially tried to trademark basic English adjectives.
The pity party did not stop there. He went on to complain that he has a big project coming up at work soon and now he cannot even get hyped for it. He blamed his impending lack of motivation entirely on her, claiming that whatever she tells him now is completely meaningless. He managed to take a sweet moment between two friends and twist it into a narrative where he is the ultimate victim of betrayal.
Naturally, telling your supportive girlfriend that all her kind platitudes are completely meaningless ended up severely hurting her feelings. He admitted he felt betrayed, but the entire internet rushed to tell him he is acting like a spoiled toddler. You cannot hoard compliments like a dragon hoarding gold. A kind word given to a friend does not magically subtract value from the kind words given to a partner.
The Reddit comment section absolutely roasted this man. People were quick to point out that this exact behavior is likely why women his own age avoid him. He is thirty years old and throwing a full blown tantrum because his twenty one year old girlfriend called someone else incredible. Jean needs to pack up her hot, successful, and cool energy and find a partner who does not require a daily, exclusive ego stroke just to function in society.