Four years with jobless man takes toll

By Shirley

Money makes the world go round. That is why it is never a surprise that when money walks out of the door, love follows it through the window.

Jackie says that she and her fiancÈ have been dating for seven years and have a daughter.

They began dating when she was in her second year at university. He was two years ahead of her but they both were doing the same course, BCom. They had a baby girl a year later, but unlike other boys who would have taken to their heels on hearing about pregnancy, he stayed by her side and even helped financially where he could, thanks largely to his parents.

Greg, her fiancÈ, graduated before her but to this day, he has not been employed. Jackie on the other hand got a job immediately after completing her final exams. She is an assertive and hardworking person and a few months after graduating, she and her daughter moved into their own flat and she even started saving for a car.

Her fiancÈ would come to visit them regularly and eventually moved into her apartment. It has been more than three years since he moved in and he has still not found a job.

Although Greg claims to have sent applications to various organisations, none has hired him. So Jackie put on a brave face and took on the role of the breadwinner. She has been supporting them ever since and even though his parents chip in sometimes, she still feels like she is the man of the house. While her friends at work use their money on luxury items because they have boyfriends or husbands who have jobs, Jackie is forced to spend responsibly and can never spoil herself, because she has both her daughter and her boyfriend to think about.

She has given Greg money on numerous occasions to start a businesses but they always fail. She has told him about organisations she knew were hiring, trying not to sound nagging. They weren’t terrific jobs but they would pay above the minimum wage. He just won’t apply. All he does is give excuses.

It never bothered her so much before but now that their daughter has joined primary school, the financial situation has got worse.

She wrote to say that though she loves her fiancÈ, she does not want go on living with a jobless man.

I told her if being with a jobless man is proving to be too much then she should walk out.

Would you stay with a jobless man?