While I understand the gist of this article and, for comedy’s sake, I suppose a lot of it is fun to talk about. But if this “micro-cheating” things become some mainstream topic, then we’re all in a lot of trouble.

I’ve been with my wife for going on 21 years (in June) and I have to point out that most of what you’ve listed under ‘micro-cheating’ is something nearly everyone does to some degree. It’s natural. It is absolutely natural to find oneself attracted to another human, whether physically or mentally. We’re humans and that’s kinda’ what we’re supposed to do, after all.

Where we’ll get “in trouble” is when we start to police every interaction based on our relationship with a wife, girlfriend, SO, etc. What kind of life is it when you have to “check” yourself every time we strike up a conversation with someone or when they strike up a conversation with us?

I think that on some level, the labeling of our interactions throughout the day with such negative connotations — even the innocent ones — will further degrade our relationships as a consequence of constantly feeling under pressure to conform to what’s considered acceptable behavior, etc.

Now, I DO agree that things like confiding in others about small complaints within the relationship should be avoided. These innocent complaints too often snowball into your “friends” sowing seeds of doubt within the relationship. Friends will typically always take the side of their friend and rarely will ever hear the other side of things. The reinforcement here can be disastrous, even if not intended to be.

But to constantly question oneself and “punish” oneself for every little thing we do that is often a natural way for us to live will place far too much burden, self-doubt, and serious questions about every relationship.

We’re human and that’s what we do. Humans were not created to be monogamous, despite society’s belief that we were or should be. So being monogamous takes a lot of work and can cause an undue amount of stress. I don’t think it’s fair to add an extra layer of stress or work to something that already requires a fair amount of time and effort.

Interesting read, though, so thanks.