The vast majority of the population is not under a contractual obligation to do exactly what you say or serve jail time.

Oddly enough, your spouse is part of that majority.

Really, go figure.

And now we wait for a one-post wonder to say something about family values.

• Yes,moonbaby, 09:00 AM, 03-12-12
• RE: Major Dave's minor misunderstanding.,MissMyth, 07:32 PM, 03-12-12
• RE: Major Dave's minor misunderstanding.,udg, 01:12 AM, 03-13-12
  • RE: Major Dave's minor misunderstanding.,Snidget, 08:44 AM, 03-13-12
  • RE: Major Dave's minor misunderstanding.,MissMyth, 03:11 PM, 03-13-12
• RE: Major Dave's minor misunderstanding.,Colonel Zoidberg, 10:50 PM, 03-23-12

If there is one couple aside from the BB nightmare team that I cannot stand for all the drama and the crying and running away and the pretend crying when the camera is intent on capturing a manufactured dramatic moment it is this one.

He is really something else and it sounds like she has had just about enough. It's painful to watch them, with his attitude and her verbal sniping, they're acting like a couple of brats.

LAST EDITED ON 03-12-12 AT 07:34 PM (EST)

I hate the way he portrays the military...and husbands...and men in general. Not a good example, at all. She really should have said no to the whole idea of going on the show. Another sad example of trying to fix your problems in a fishbowl.

Edited to add: I almost wished they had decided to try for the FF hoping he would screw up royally. Of course, it would have been Rachel's fault for holding her head wrong.

When I saw their episode 1 interview and found out that they were going on TAR and he was a recently redeployed soldier, I knew it was a recipe for trouble. I'm a military wife. I have lots of military-wife friends. That readjustment period after a soldier comes home is almost universally harder than the deployment itself! I'm tempted to tell half a dozen anecdotes here to illustrate the point (like the 1SG's wife who finally threw a dinner plate when her husband was acting a lot like Dave).

One one hand, he's being a real #####. On the other hand, I recognize those behaviors as very typical for the months immediately following a redeployment, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if his behavior is very different after he's been home for a while. It would be great if this became an opportunity to educate the general public about the stress of having a spouse come home, since we tend to get a lot of empathy when our husbands leave, but no one outside of the military seems to understand that it's stressful when they come home, too. (And then you feel guilty about being stressed on top of being stressed.)

Thanks to tribephyl for the sigpic!

I've seen some reporting on how hard it is when the loved one returns. So many expectations that can't be filled and so much change both for the person away and the family that learns what they can do on their own when they absolutely have to.

I've never understood how people think a high pressure situation is going to make the stress they are going through all better. I mean sometimes it does seem people settle out into a good place, but there has to be an easier way than the lets pile the stress and hope things shatter in the best possible way.

Thank you for your insight. I can't even imagine the amount of stressful readjustment for all concerned. I so wish Rachel and Dave had made a better choice about putting themselves into this situation.

He's annoying, belligerent, arrogant, condescending, demanding, and overall, a jerk.

That said, she's no prize either.