A friend of mine had been dating a local girl for a few years. Things had been going quite well for some time. Eventually, they entered a rough patch due to my friends - who I will call Mark - drinking habits. They would fight like cats and dogs, break up and get back together.

During one breakup in particular, which lasted a or six weeks or so, Marks girlfriend began seeing another guy. During this six week period, she got pregnant with this other man's child, split up with him, and got back with Mark.

It's basically well known throughout the town that Mark is not the biological father (although he has dedicated his life for the last 4 years to raising the child as his own). His girlfriend now takes him for granted and treats Mark like shit, even though he quit drinking and has multiple years of sobriety under his belt. Mark has told me that he wants to move west for better job opportunities, but he cannot go because his girlfriend does not want to leave because she is a local townie and does not want to leave her mother and father, whom she has lived close to her entire life.

It boils my blood to see an otherwise intelligent, entrepreneurial minded young man who is also physically attractive, fit, and wants to leave the area in search of better opportunities being stifled by a woman who got knocked up with someone else's kid and is holding my friend hostage emotionally, as he is very much attached to the child.

This is a situation which I can never ever envision myself in, and I find it heartbreaking - but also a perfect example of what never to do.