Historical Trend Analysis #1: The Man who Dumped His Newborn’s Mama and Is on The Hunt Again

I once chatted with a guy from an online dating site. Initially the conversation went well. He seemed pretty intelligent, and knew tons of stuff about organic food (I was going through a phase). Then just as I was considering a first date with him, he casually mentioned that he has a six-month-old baby.

Whoa, whoa, say that again?

I asked him for more details. He said he’d split from his ex shortly after the baby’s birth because “things just aren’t the same anymore.” Well duh, she just gave birth. Being a new mother means a lot of changes physically and psychologically. Of course she won’t be the same as before. If he got her pregnant, the least he could do is have the guts to stick around long enough to see things through.

Giving up right away is not acceptable. More effort should be made, for the poor kid’s sake if nothing else. Instead of helping his ex out with diapers and feeding, he chose to run off and check out new girls online.

I told the guy I wasn’t interested. If he could do that to another woman, he could do the same thing to me one day. I was looking for a keeper, not a hit-and-run. In Accounting, there’s a technique called Historical Trend Analysis, which uses historical data to predict future behaviours. The idea is simple: look into the past to see the future.

So next time when you talk to a man, pay attention to his past. If he complains about past girlfriends who all wrongfully accused him of cheating, those might not be false accusations at all. If his dating profile shows he’s been around for eight years and he still hasn’t found “the right girl”, you gotta ask, is the problem with them, or with him?