Woman (UK)

Was it a harmless joke?

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QI’m 55 and have been seeing a man for some months. A few weeks before the lockdown, I came home from a trip to France with girlfriend­s. We all went into isolation for two weeks and I told him I wouldn’t see him. A week later, he arrived at my home, barged in, and when I insisted he left, he deliberate­ly coughed in my face. I screamed at him and told him to leave, and he did. When he got home, he emailed me apologisin­g and admitting he was wrong. Obviously, I haven’t seen him, but he emails regularly begging my forgivenes­s and asking to get back together. He says it was a joke.

Suzie says

ASince you are writing to me, I suppose it was harmless. But it might not have been, and actually that’s not the point. His behaviour showed utter stupidity in the face of frequent scientific advice. It also showed total disrespect for you. In essence, he assaulted you. That’s the thing about ‘jokes’ – often there’s nothing funny about them.

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