Poll: how long should one wait before going out with a friend's ex?

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namhorFnodroG

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Nov 2, 2011
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No. Nonononono, you can't just break the Brocode like that, Bro's before hoes. If he's actually looking to get back together with her, would that be really, really mean to him. It'd ruin the friendship.
 

axlryder

victim of VR
Jul 29, 2011
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Thanks for the input guys. Waiting a bit has awakened the cautious side in me. I'll at least have to speak to him about this whole situation. Too many potential landmines waiting to go off.

Jonluw, I personally agree with your sentiment, but of course this isn't just about the way I look at things.
 

spartan231490

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Jan 14, 2010
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axlryder said:
the 7th option should say "whenever they are comfortable"

So I'm in something of an awkward situation. One of my best friends (who I work with) broke up with his girlfriend about a month ago. Since that time, she and I started running in the mornings. Well, today she essentially came onto me, but I gracefully denied her. My friend is under the impression that they are going to get back together at some point, though he definitely wasn't all that broken up when they first broke it off. Either way, I can't and don't really want to hide it from him if anything happens. Her and I both agree that he's a good guy (and she's terrible at hiding things anyway). I also have an inkling of suspicion that she wants to make him jealous, but that's just the paranoid part of me talking.

Anyway, since this thread wasn't designed specifically for me to tell you about my sex life [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVvfau1fWrI], this led to a question that has been asked all over the internet. That said, I'm not sure if it has recently been asked on this particular forum. How long should one wait before going out with a friend's ex? I realizes that there are sometimes circumstances that don't really render the situation so simple (such as the position that I'm in right now), but for the poll's sake let's pretend we're speaking about a simple "they broke up and it's over" case. Advice for my own situation is welcome also.
Wait until you talk to your friend about it, fucking duh. Why are people allergic to talking. If he doesn't want you to go for it, then decide if you are willing to risk losing your friend over her. If you are, go for it anyway, if you aren't, don't. If he is ok with you going for it, go for it.

It's that fucking simple. Fuck the games, fuck the waiting period, if you actually have even one fucking iota of respect for your so-called friend, then talk to him about it like two functional adult human beings.
 

bojackx

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Nov 14, 2010
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How long SHOULD you wait? Damned if I know. If by that question you actually mean "how long should you wait before going out with her without the likely chance of my friend hating me?" then I'd say it varies. In your case, I wouldn't go with her right now, especially since your friend still obviously loves her and wants to get back together. If you go with her now, he'll think you stole her.
 

axlryder

victim of VR
Jul 29, 2011
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spartan231490 said:
axlryder said:
the 7th option should say "whenever they are comfortable"

So I'm in something of an awkward situation. One of my best friends (who I work with) broke up with his girlfriend about a month ago. Since that time, she and I started running in the mornings. Well, today she essentially came onto me, but I gracefully denied her. My friend is under the impression that they are going to get back together at some point, though he definitely wasn't all that broken up when they first broke it off. Either way, I can't and don't really want to hide it from him if anything happens. Her and I both agree that he's a good guy (and she's terrible at hiding things anyway). I also have an inkling of suspicion that she wants to make him jealous, but that's just the paranoid part of me talking.

Anyway, since this thread wasn't designed specifically for me to tell you about my sex life [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVvfau1fWrI], this led to a question that has been asked all over the internet. That said, I'm not sure if it has recently been asked on this particular forum. How long should one wait before going out with a friend's ex? I realizes that there are sometimes circumstances that don't really render the situation so simple (such as the position that I'm in right now), but for the poll's sake let's pretend we're speaking about a simple "they broke up and it's over" case. Advice for my own situation is welcome also.
Wait until you talk to your friend about it, fucking duh. Why are people allergic to talking. If he doesn't want you to go for it, then decide if you are willing to risk losing your friend over her. If you are, go for it anyway, if you aren't, don't. If he is ok with you going for it, go for it.

It's that fucking simple. Fuck the games, fuck the waiting period, if you actually have even one fucking iota of respect for your so-called friend, then talk to him about it like two functional adult human beings.
you say fuck a bit much. Also, I've already posted an update post in the thread. It's good to read through them.
 

Quaxar

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Sep 21, 2009
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After years of extensive testing and long hours of theoretical maths to the tunes of Survivor I have perfected a formula for this occasion.Which is to say I just made that up. But I have to say this could actually work as a formula. I CALL DIBS!

x = rd /(br*B)

Where Rd is the number of days the relationship lasted, br is the number of weeks since the break-up and B is a multiplicating factor dependant on your position on the "bro scale" (a subjective scale of how good a friend he is to you ranging from 10 - 1, where 10 is an acquaintance and 1 is your best friend).
Your result x is the number of days you should wait before engaging in anything serious.

Enjoy!
 

garbutt

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Sep 22, 2009
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I'm dating a friends ex - we've been together now for five years - so, speaking from personal experience:

My friend (lets call him Bert) and his girlfriend at the time (lets call her Helga, just for the fun of it) had been in an on again/off again relationship for a couple of years. I had always been attracted to Helga but had not acted on it as she was already dating Bert when I first met her.

So anyhow, the two of them had this long talk where they came to the conclusion that their relationship was going nowhere and wasnt going to work out, and they decided it was best if they split up.

I waited a couple of months before making a move, and after our first date when me and Helga decided we were in fact an item now, the first thing I did was sit down with Bert and make sure he found out from me (rather than anyone else) what the situation was and that he was OK with it. Bert was very cool and totally OK with the situation and is still friends with me and Helga.

In summary, my opinion is: I think dating a friends ex CAN work, but its important to make sure that no-one is being used to make anyone else jealous, and that everyone understands what is going on. Communication is key.
 

axlryder

victim of VR
Jul 29, 2011
1,862
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Quaxar said:
After years of extensive testing and long hours of theoretical maths to the tunes of Survivor I have perfected a formula for this occasion.

x = rd /(br*B)

Where Rd is the number of days the relationship lasted, br is the number of weeks since the break-up and B is a multiplicating factor dependant on your position on the "bro scale" (a subjective scale of how good a friend he is to you ranging from 10 - 1, where 10 is an acquaintance and 1 is your best friend).
Your result x is the number of days you should wait before engaging in anything serious.

Enjoy!
Your avatar feels so appropriate for this post. We'll call it the Quaxar equation.
 

Amaror

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Apr 15, 2011
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Fappy said:
Talk to your friend first. If he's cool with it I don't see why not.
This.
You should talk to your friend first.
Otherwise your just an asshole.
at the first replier:
You don't have many friends by any chance?
 

gazumped

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Dec 1, 2010
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I don't think I could bring myself to date a friend's ex, not because I think it's wrong or disrespectful, but just because I really hate drama.

Having said that, by the time me and my first boyfriend broke up, I was in terribly in love with my best friend, who was also one of my ex's best friends. I was really really hacked off that it was so taboo and that my best friend got all the shtick for getting with a girl he'd had a crush on for two years just because he'd made friends with her boyfriend.

So looking at it from a friend's perspective, I wouldn't touch that crap with a ten foot pole, but of course looking at it from the girl in question's perspective I'm all WHAT'S IT GOT TO DO WITH MY EX IT ENDED FOR A REASON, YOU KNOW.

... can't speak from the ex's perspective, though, never been in that position. And I guess that's the perspective you're concerned with.
 

Ryotknife

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Oct 15, 2011
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Is it really worth the potential disastrous drama? Granted i do not have this problem because the moment a friend dates someone I have zero interest in her forever.

Keep in mind if there is a falling out between you two you run the dreaded "friend custody" gauntlet where all of your friends and acquaintances line up on one side or the other.
 

Zantos

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Jan 5, 2011
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There are important rules for this. W = (D/12)*a where W is the amount of time you should wait in months, D is the length of their relationship in months and a is a constant equal to 2 if it's just a regular acquaintance, 3 if it's a friend, and infinity if it's a best friend. So since you described them as a best friend, never!
 

Ryan Minns

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Mar 29, 2011
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Just FYI, even if you talk to your friend about it soonish, if you do ANYTHING about it before HE has moved on he may/will always suspect your involvement with being why things changed between them/ "Hmm what if we broke up because my mate was putting the moves on her" "What if they were doing things before we broke up and he's only now telling me" etc, it happens a lot.
 

game-lover

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Dec 1, 2010
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Does the "Whenever they are comfortable" mean when the friend is?

Because if so, I'm going with that.

I know that I probably wouldn't be all right with it. Mostly because I know I'd be tremendously bothered dating a friend's ex.

There was a term that I read in this webcomic that I think is fitting, especially based on my mother's own thoughts.

"Friendcestuous." That's what it is. Like... ew. Too small world and too much mixing and blah.
 

spartan231490

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Jan 14, 2010
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axlryder said:
spartan231490 said:
axlryder said:
the 7th option should say "whenever they are comfortable"

So I'm in something of an awkward situation. One of my best friends (who I work with) broke up with his girlfriend about a month ago. Since that time, she and I started running in the mornings. Well, today she essentially came onto me, but I gracefully denied her. My friend is under the impression that they are going to get back together at some point, though he definitely wasn't all that broken up when they first broke it off. Either way, I can't and don't really want to hide it from him if anything happens. Her and I both agree that he's a good guy (and she's terrible at hiding things anyway). I also have an inkling of suspicion that she wants to make him jealous, but that's just the paranoid part of me talking.

Anyway, since this thread wasn't designed specifically for me to tell you about my sex life [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVvfau1fWrI], this led to a question that has been asked all over the internet. That said, I'm not sure if it has recently been asked on this particular forum. How long should one wait before going out with a friend's ex? I realizes that there are sometimes circumstances that don't really render the situation so simple (such as the position that I'm in right now), but for the poll's sake let's pretend we're speaking about a simple "they broke up and it's over" case. Advice for my own situation is welcome also.
Wait until you talk to your friend about it, fucking duh. Why are people allergic to talking. If he doesn't want you to go for it, then decide if you are willing to risk losing your friend over her. If you are, go for it anyway, if you aren't, don't. If he is ok with you going for it, go for it.

It's that fucking simple. Fuck the games, fuck the waiting period, if you actually have even one fucking iota of respect for your so-called friend, then talk to him about it like two functional adult human beings.
you say fuck a bit much. Also, I've already posted an update post in the thread. It's good to read through them.
I don't care if you think I swear too much. I swear because I'm pissed off by people ignoring the blatantly obvious. In fact, I do read most threads through, even the ones that are like 7 pages long, but this one was so blatantly obvious and mind-numbingly idiotic, I forwent that and just posted the only accurate answer to the question that was asked.

Also, very few people on this site read through an entire thread before posting. Many do, but most don't. As a result, most OPs add any relevant additional information into the OP through edits. It also keeps the post count low and helps keep the thread uncluttered.
 

JoesshittyOs

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Aug 10, 2011
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Depends quite frankly. He broke up with her, so you should be good. I've been on many sides of that situation, and there's really never been any drama.

One of my good friends started dating an ex of mine, and I was ecstatic about it. It was crazy how perfect they were together, and even apparently started talking about marriage. They're currently broken up, but she did have a thing for the melodrama, and they're very clearly in love still.
 

chuckman1

Cool
Jan 15, 2009
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Ehh I say fuck the bro code and go for it.
Girls are like a ticking time bomb and once your 5 minute slot is over they decide they'd rather blow somewhere else. (Hooray for beautiful metaphors)
This guy will get over it and who knows this girl could be "the one".
 

Nemesis729

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Jul 9, 2010
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There are a few factors in situations like this, as far as I'm concerned.

First is how close of a friend he is, if you consider him one of your best friends, it's never ok to go out with an ex.

Second, if he's not a best friend, it depends on how much you actually like her, if you just want to have sex with her and cut it off, you're an asshole and don't deserve your friends trust. If you actually think you see a future with the girl, AND if you ask your friend about it first, then I think it's alright.
 

Aerosteam

Get out while you still can
Sep 22, 2011
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How long?

Well, that depends on how long you wait until you ask your friend if it's okay. If he says it is, then go for it. If not, obviously don't do it.
Nemesis729 said:
-The snip-
That's an awesome avatar. I purposely created this account on Madness Day. =)
 

SecondPrize

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Mar 12, 2012
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The correct amount of time is second after you've talked to your buddy about her hitting on you and you wanting to follow up on that.