I'm going to change around some of the details here because the guy I'm talking about is part of a very small very elite group of doctors and I just want to avoid any identification issues. I know him in a professional capacity but he's from a different institution. Honestly he got fucked up so bad this story should be covered by HIPAA laws.

So this guy, let's call him Gerald. He graduated with a dual medical degree and advanced degree from a very prestigious medical school. Bright future. Great residency. Good doctor to boot too. Now he was in school and training for a long time, but when he's done he's about 32. As a sidenote, at least for doctors, Rollo was right that you hit the peak of your game at around 34 when you've established yourself into a strong position after many many years of essentially not being allowed to have an opinion (it can happen earlier depending on specialty and exact path, anyway I digress). So Gerald is young he's on the rise when he meets a woman let's call her Lucy.

Lucy is also an academic elite. Fairly young and on her way to tenured track. She is an assistant professor at the university he's accepted a position at. He's also got a future at said school. She's 32 as well, she's running out of time. She locks him down as the "sophisticated quality woman" he's always wanted. No that he's always needed. Lucy is the "one". Mind you, Gerald is about as educated as anyone can possibly get...and he's this fucking stricken with Oneitis.

Now this next part is more conjecture, but I from what I heard this is more or less accurate. She gets him to marry her knowing that there's a position opening up for a tenured post at another university that she has a lot of connections at. The sad part is that he's on track to become a full professor one day at their current institution, they love him there. She takes her position obviously, because "feminism" or just plain self-interest I guess. And he makes the dumbass decision to double down on commitment by having a baby with her, before the move, and leaves his optimal position at an ultra ELITE medical institution to take an assistant professorship, which is the bottom of the barrel especially at an institution you have no connections at. And she now OUTRANKS him academically.

Now going on 3 years later they're both 35 their son is walking around more or less, surprise surprise, she begins to lose interest in her husband. Her husband's career is going nowhere, he can't get anything done well. Her career is taking off, she's doing way better than him. He's hopelessly dependent on her for emotional support, and she makes more money than him. She starts to hate him for kind of obvious reasons. He's BP as shit and is less successful than her during what is supposed to be his peak years.

She divorces him, takes quite a chunk of his salary, she actually somehow gets the house out of all of this (that to my understanding they both paid for), she got majority custody of the kid. And he's so BP that he actually believes that this is somehow fair. Because apparently, she "needs" his money, the kid "needs to grow up in the house he was born in", and the kid needs his "mother more than his father". The guy being totally dependent on her collapses like a lost little boy who just lost his mother. The last I heard of him he lost his job at the university and I have no idea what he's doing now.

Lucy is now banging some other BP 30 year old doctor. But she isn't marrying him I don't think. Why would she after all? She has the kid, the house, the money, and now a new man. I poured one out for this guy when I heard he lost his job. Another great man, the subject of self-sabotage and BP programming. It just goes to show you even the smartest men can be fundamentally stupid.