Bitter Single Guy Delivers Tough Love

 Dear Bitter Single Guy: My girlfriend and I have been going out for about 5 months now. We're both very busy with work, school and beyond. Now she's decided it is time to break up because she has too much going on. I can respect that, but she told me in a few months we could try again, and then told me that our personalities were causing some stress for her. Where do I stand with her? -- Going Back and Forth

Dear GBF: The Bitter Single Guy knows that hope springs eternal and if you're the Dumpee (and you are, GBF) you want to cling to the hope that whatever line you received in order to soften the blow of rejection actually has some shred of truth somewhere. Classic lines include "It's not you, it's me", indicating that with a self-help book or some therapy, the Dumper might be prepared to come crawling back. "I need some space" is also a classic, indicating that an apartment with more square footage, or simply more closet space would bring her back to you.

GBF, your ex-girlfriend (note the "ex" there; we'll come back to that later) dangles this carrot of giving her a few months to re-arrange her busy life in order to find time for you. This works beautifully if you're trying to get your accountant to plan your will during tax season. 'Just give me a few months' he'll tell you. In a relationship however that dog just won't hunt. You were dumped GBF and she is no longer your girlfriend, she's your ex. Where do you stand with her? You stand without her.