This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Dear Carolyn • My girlfriend has borrowed my car several times over the past month (she's moving) and has not once refilled the gas tank. This should be a softball ("Hey, please refill the gas tank next time you use the car"), but in context a tough one for me because most of the problems we've had in our relationship have been due to my instinct toward bean-counting. She stopped keeping track of who paid for what years ago, and has expressed offense when I ask to be paid back for things. What's a graceful way to skirt this, or should I just let the gas go?
Iowa
Dear Iowa • "She stopped keeping track"? That can mean she gives generously and without regard for balance ... or takes copiously without regard for balance. If it's the former, then forget the gas tank (please) — and give some careful thought to why you're still bean-counting despite her generosity with you. If instead she has been blithe about taking your money while offering up very little of her own — and she attacks you anytime you so much as sigh in frustration over it — then you need to accept that your girlfriend is a taker. And a manipulative one, since her "expressed offense" has you questioning — and censoring — yourself when your doubts about her behavior flare up. If this is the scenario that rings a bell, then get out, and eat the gas money as a small price to pay for enlightenment. Either way — when you're at a point where you feel you can't be honest with your girlfriend, then it's not, it's never, just about the current bone of contention.
Dear Carolyn • I'm dating a woman who is beautiful, accomplished and smart as a whip. So why can I not get past the fact that she's been married three times?
Anonymous
Dear Anonymous • What's the rush to get past it? Her marriages aren't her whole story, but they're an important (and probably fascinating) set of chapters in her story. If you care about her and are trying on the idea of a future with her, then you need to read the chapters very carefully and figure out what they say.
Carolyn Hax's column runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.