OK, first off, ignore the people who make fun of you for being a waiter and a struggling musician; they're jerks, and who the hell asked them anyway? Seriously, the mid-20's is not all that old. You're paying your dues. If you're happy with that part of your situation, that's good enough.

So, what to do? Plenty of people here have said one thing that rings true: She wants to dump you, but lacks the courage to do it. Lots of people have this problem. It's annoying, but it can be used, temporarily, to give you control of the remainder of the relationship.

She wants you to break up with her? Don't. Instead, start demanding all sorts of things you've always wanted to try with her. Maybe even try a few you don't really want, just to check out the scenery. Go wild! I'm not talking about sex specifically here, although that's one obvious area of exploration. But don't neglect other desires either. Want her to wear a blue dress? Try a new cuisine? Shut up for an evening? Might as well demand it now.

Either she'll break up with you, and you've forced her to take some responsibility for her own wishes, or she'll accede to your demands and you'll have some fun. Better still, you'll have regained some control of the situation. Who knows? She may even like the new you. Maybe she'll be excited.

Either way, you have nothing to lose here. The relationship is on its last legs. You may as well have some fun on the way out.

I'm not usually much of a fan, Cary. I dislike many of your digressions. I think you often side with women at the expense of men.

But you hit the nail on the head here.

Even the digression was not in fact a digression; it was clear and to the point, and it needed addressing. Many of your LWs contribute to their own grief by reading others' email. It is good to take the opportunity to suggest that they stop doing that.

Yours was a perfect response.

Jesus H. Christ, you people drink the Kool-Aid to the dregs, don't you?

Many of Obama's relatives live in utter poverty, unameliorated by his wealth in any way.

He threw his late grandmother under the damned bus to make a cheap rhetorical point, for crying out loud.

If the LW asks herself what Obama would do, she'd let the mother-in-law starve in the street...or make her whole with your money.

Or, better yet, actually care about what it says.

For people who pat themselves on the back constantly for their supposed intelligence, Salon writers and readers are not all that bright on average.

Spot on. Of course, Zacharek is too much of a sexist to see the boy as a victim. Reverse the sexes and she'd be thrashing around like an epileptic seal.

I like how the LW's gender was pointed out early in these responses, so that Salonistas would know what to think.

If this was a woman, you'd be making excuses for her.

The messages supporting the LW are revealing. I had never thought that people like mad_cartoonist and Allie_ were worthy of trust, and now I know they're not. They don't care about the LW breaking her word, so what is their word worth?

Obvious troll is obvious.

Enjoy your coming bankruptcy, Salon. There will be no bailout for you either.

If the moderators here were to delete your posts in this thread, it'd shrink appreciably, and it'd be a good start.

Go forth and implement the Mel Brooks prescription for comedy.

...and you're all wrong.

LW, you sound like a damned drag. I'd prefer the friend too. I don't blame her for not liking you. She sees you sucking the life out of her friend, and doesn't appreciate it.

You don't show the least concern about why your husband doesn't enjoy your whiny, bitchy company, and neither does Cary, and neither do the idiot Salonistas who have responded thus far. Cheer up, though. Eventually he will get sick of you, and you can continue whining about thiws guy to your next victim -- er, husband.

Sorry, our posts crossed. You haven't said much, but what you have said is not actually wrong.

You hit the nail on the head.

And to every psycho bitch and Internet tough guy talking about kicking the husband's ass: Talk is cheap, and none of you could kick anyone's ass. Keep it up and maybe you'll be the ones with your jaws wired shut. It'd be a hell of an improvement.

Shut up.

Seriously, shut up.

When men and women disagree, women do not automatically win.

SHUT. UP.

Ain't that the truth. There's little more annoying than a writer who's so busy telling you how clever he is that he has no space to display his cleverness...assuming, of course, that space is the issue.

But I'm happy to help.

1. Dissembling your blind pro-Hillary partisanship, rather than simply admitting you were a mindless follower of a deservedly failed campaign.

2. Failing to fire or discipline writers like Rebecca Traister, whose "Obama boys" racial slur was disgusting and unacceptable. Just because you're liberal and white doesn't make you a racial saint, and the same goes for your writers.

3. Publishing the most crapfully trivial articles you could find. Hillary's ass, Michelle's ass...the real ass here was you, the editor.

4. Concern trolling even after it was obvious that your favored candidate was losing. You weren't fooling anyone then, either.

5. Whining in response to criticisms of your article. See also: "Author's Big Mistake."

Doesn't it feel weird to run a publication that will never return a profit, that is only propped up by a few liberal money-men? Let's not pretend the subscribers contribute any more than the widow's mite here. You're the puppet of a few special interests, and you should be ashamed.