ONE of the key reasons many couples break up is disloyalty. Or if you want to put it more pointedly, infidelity.
Suddenly, one of the partners feels she is being taken for granted. She is not appreciated enough by her mate, despite the sacrifices made in the relationship and sticking by him no matter what.
Her partner thinks he is not getting any rewards by staying in this current relationship, and starts looking around for the next new hottie with whom he can promise the moon and the stars.
As her partner’s affair with another continues, she starts blaming herself. She thinks she has nothing more to give, nothing more exciting to offer to satisfy her partner and keep him at bay. Despite the many ways she has tried to appease him or get him to notice her again, at some point she will wake up to the fact that all these are for naught. She finally realizes it is no longer healthy for her to stay in this relationship. It’s time to leave everything behind, including those wonderful memories she shared with him.
Of course, there were happy, even incredibly joyful memories. At the beginning of any relationship, there is mutual excitement and giddiness of getting to know each other, and finding out what makes each other tick. You deal with both the happy and unhappy surprises that crop up along the way, like the quirks in the bathroom, or the “hangriness” from eating one’s breakfast late, or talking way too much on the phone with your gal pal, even as he likes picking his teeth with a knife after a meal.
Both of you take everything in stride, laugh over the weirdness or lovable traits that make each of you unforgettable characters.
Unfortunately, not all that can last forever. *Sigh*
And so, I am on the brink of doing what many deem to be the unthinkable.
After decades of being in this ever-precious relationship, I am finally considering to throw in the towel and break up…with my mobile phone service provider.
You cannot blame me though. I have been a loyal customer for so many years; I have had the same *0918 number since I first signed up to that company’s service in the 1990s. It was back when mobile phones were heavy gigantors, with those tiny antennae you had to physically slip out from their slots. And I’ve had the same 2500 phone plan, which has always been apropos for my budget.
One would think over the years, my mobile phone usage would increase. But with the advent of Facebook Messenger, Instagram and Twitter direct messaging, Viber and even Signal—the latter I am subscribed to just because of a good friend stateside who distrusts other messaging services— I hardly text and call my contacts using the regular cellphone service.
Which is probably the reason the marketing “geniuses” at this company decided to revamp the company’s phone subscription plans. Hey if you don’t call or text, maybe you can use more gigabytes surfing the Internet or streaming those danceable Spotify tunes or Netflix movies.
I get where the company is coming from. They need to increase profits to help them modernize and boost operations, as well as build more cell sites and towers to keep its subscribers always connected, reaching the farthest areas in the country with a clear signal. But they reworked their subscription plans at 1000-increments that someone like me, who has been happy with the same 2500-phone plan, will have to choose either the 1999 or the 2999 subscription. Sure the company dangles some freebies in terms of call minutes, free texts and Internet service, but after my computations, it will end up with me forking over more money for less service than I usually get. Seriously, even the folk at the company’s sales centers agree that my current phone plan is still far superior to the new plans they are offering right now. (In contrast, the rival mobile phone service still has the plan I need.)
I just feel that after yeeeeaaaaars of loyalty to this mobile service provider, I feel I have not gotten any respect of late. In the last few years, I noticed it constantly offers nifty new cellphones to attract new subscribers, while giving the atrocious, unwanted phones to those of us loyally renewing our plans. (I can’t help but be jealous of the subscribers of its rival, who are fabulously rewarded for their loyalty with the latest phones. Of course, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s probably a small price to play for the great free stuff its subscribers receive.)
Plus its points and payments system suck. I couldn’t even link my rewards card to their online payments app, while their subscription app no longer works after a recent update, despite inputting my usual username/contact number and password.
For sure, we’ve had great times. I have appreciated the way my mobile service provider allows me to receive a strong cellphone signal no matter what remote barangay I am in. And while abroad, it does have affordable Internet rates, although their call-text plan leaves much to be desired, as they are at the mercy of the foreign carrier they are partnered with.
But this is like saying while one’s significant other continues to be extremely handsome, he has developed bad breath, is just a lazy bum who can’t pick up his clothes to shoot in the laundry basket, or can’t stop playing with the ladies.
The pros of leaving the relationship now outweigh the cons of sticking with it. At the end of the day, I should be able to count on the respect accorded to me by the person (or company!) I have a serious relationship with. Sans that, perhaps it’s now time to break up and walk away.