I saw my friend with another woman (not his wife) - should I tell his wife?

United States
February 5, 2011 5:04pm CST
My wife and I went to a cafe this afternoon for a coffee. While we were in there, we saw a friend of ours. He was looking a little shifty and said he was meeting "a friend". This friend turned out to be a lady. They made an excuse and left quickly. It might all be innocent, but his behaviour seemed a little suspicious. Should I (or my wife) say anything to my friend's wife, or just stay out of it?
6 people like this
37 responses
@trinale (1479)
• United States
5 Feb 11
The best answer Paul is to "mind your own business", but if it's really bothering you, confront the individual himself. No need for you to be the one to bring the initial hurt to his wife. She will find out in time anyway. Cheers, Ed
2 people like this
@trinale (1479)
• United States
6 Feb 11
I know what you mean Paul. Hope I didn't come across too harsh. I didn't mean to. Cheers, Ed
• United States
10 Feb 11
No probs, Ed! :-)
• United States
6 Feb 11
hey, say what you mean, why dont you? haha!
• Finland
5 Feb 11
NO NO NO! Absolutely not! You (or yor wife) might get them to divorce. My friend got divorced for a no reason. Somene putted on a rumour that he cheated his wife, wich he did not, and after few weeks thy got divorced. You should talk to your friend first.
2 people like this
• United States
10 Feb 11
Sorry to hear about your friend, that sounds awful!
6 Feb 11
Why are you asking? Just mind your own business.
• United States
6 Feb 11
Woh!
• Jamaica
6 Feb 11
Paul, there are some wives that might thank you for opening their eyes but there are some that would hate you for ruining their life. They might look at it by saying that they were blissfully happy until you stuck your 2 cents in. Leave it alone. If he is a good friend after you inform his wife you will have an enemy. If there are kids involved that even makes it worse if it breaks up the marriage. Some wives know what is going on but they just ignore it if the husband still loves them and treats them well at home. What causes the friction is knowing that someone else knows so that pushes them to do something for their prides sake. If you feel that you have to, say something to him and accept what he tells you. It might be the truth after all.
• United States
10 Feb 11
I do know the wife in this case but have decided not to say anything!
• United States
6 Feb 11
Hmmm? I don't know what to say to that? For me it really depends on how good of friends you are but to tell you the truth I probably would not say anything right now. I would do my best to stay out of it, but if it was my best friend I would have to say something sooner or later. I don't really know I can not really say, then again I might not say anything, That is a difficult situation for you.
1 person likes this
• United States
6 Feb 11
I think the consensus is that I should hold off for now and do nothing, so that is what I'll do and recommend to my wife that she does the same! :-)
• Canada
5 Feb 11
Hey Paul, Ultimately it is your decision, but here is my opinion. I think you should wait until you see this happen again. 1 Time could just be a coincidence or something of that sort. If it happens again then you can be sure that something fishy is going on. Stay out of it for now, until you have some more proof to confront him or his wife. Again, this is only my opinion so make sure you consider all the factors!
@raijem (335)
• Philippines
6 Feb 11
I agree. Well maybe if it just happened once or if you only saw it once there could be a lot of explanation to it. But if its getting more often and his wife starts to ask or doubts, thats the time you should open up.
1 person likes this
• United States
6 Feb 11
Okay, I will see what happens...
• United States
6 Feb 11
Stay out of it. It is none of your business. There could be a good reason for the meeting between your friend and a female and you could cause irreparable damage to your friend's relationship with his wife by snitching.
1 person likes this
@BethTN81 (564)
• United States
6 Feb 11
Ha! Something like this happened to me a few years back. I was spotted in public giving a man a hug....a HUG! The man was nice looking too. We were also seen laughing and cutting up.............sooooooo someone that knew me and my boyfriend at the time went off and told my guy I was fooling around. Well, after my boyfriend confronts me by cussing me out and calling me a sleaze and other nice words i CALMLY inform him that the hot looking guy i was "flirting" with was my 1st cousin Mike...who happens to be VERY GAY. Jumping to conclusions is never a good thing. I can see you are in a delimma though. Just because he was seen with another woman does not mean he was fooling around. Was it a relative? business partner? If you knew for a FACT he was fooling around then I would drop hints for the wife to look in to it. You should not get in the middle, but at the same time if one of my good friends knew my man was cheating I would get upset if they hid it from me. Just make sure that IS the case. Things arent always as they seem. Good luck.
1 person likes this
• United States
6 Feb 11
I would talk to your friend first. Let him know that you know. Then if he doesn't listen you should tell his wife. I would not like it if a freind knew that my spouse was cheating and didn't tell me!
• United States
6 Feb 11
I was going to respond to the discussion and notice you and I are thinking exactly the same way. I too would tell the friend he knows and it would be best that his friend knows he knows as this way he is not put in the position to lie for him. If this is a good enough friend he would settle his affairs and not implicate others. I also would tell him if he did not tell his wife and of course depending on the type of friendship we actually have then I would be forced to as, I can only imagine me being the wife and my "so" called friends visiting and eating off my dinner plates and not being honest with me. hmmm tough situation but again it is the friends fault for implicating others.
1 person likes this
@ptower76 (1616)
• United States
6 Feb 11
I believe if you have to ask yourself that question then its not really such a close friend and therefore leave it alone. If it was my best friend there would be no question that i would mind my business. Besides, I know that my close friends are committed to their wives so again i would leave it alone. On the other hand, if the best friend was the wife, then i would let her know that something was going on. All told, I believe the best thing to do is to stay out of that part of your friend's lives that they don't share with you. Keeps the friendships strong.
1 person likes this
@06MLam (620)
6 Feb 11
If I were you, I will see what happen first because there is no clue that they are lovers, may be they are just normal friends or might be relatives but feel embarassed gathering in front of you. If you know that your friend is really in love with that lady, you can talk to him first to find out the reason why he is dating with that lady. Obviously, you cannot stop him from dating that lady as it is his choice and freedom to see anyone else he would like to meet. Anyway, I hope that that lady is not his lover.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
6 Feb 11
Before doing anything about it, make sure that you information is correct. Collect all facts because it is possible that your friend doing nothing wrong. This is a delicate matter and may rip a family apart. You must be really sure before telling the wife.
1 person likes this
@kkavya36 (35)
6 Feb 11
Hi friend......... you know very well what's your friend behaviour and character,you'l come to know that your friend is going in a wrong route or in a right way.if you don't get actually what's your friend doing,than just conform what's their relationship.. if you think that he is going wrong,speak once with him before informing his wife.. if he doesn't listen your words than you have to speak with his wife,since you cant just leave your friend in a wrong way thinking that its non of your business..
1 person likes this
• Philippines
7 Feb 11
Since it's only the first time you saw him with a lady, maybe it is best to give him the benefit of the doubt. That's the best you can do for now.
• Philippines
6 Feb 11
Hello paul! You decide! Think of this "Dont judge the book by its cover". You said his behavior is a suspicious so you think there is some monkey business going on, but, what if you are wrong? Do some investigation. How well do you know your friend? his personality? his relation to his wife?
1 person likes this
• India
6 Feb 11
you should 1st make your friend understand that he should not do all this...
1 person likes this
@raj7shot (838)
• India
6 Feb 11
What you see is let it be with you and your wife..Don't interfere into their life and make some problems.
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@jasper40t (468)
6 Feb 11
Thats a great disscussion one that i got a black eye for years ago. I told the woman and he came gave me a sore right eye.If it were so innocent, they would not have been shifty about it. I guess you should go with your instincs my friend, but make sure you wear a protective head gear...
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
7 Feb 11
Really? He may well have been 'shifty' because he knew his friend would see it the wrong way.
7 Feb 11
you could be so right! gr8 answer...
@naija4real (1291)
6 Feb 11
I suggest you should stay away from your friends private life. Your friend wife might discover this secret in no distant time. Your disclosure will hurt the wife and when both couple finally settles this issue you stand the risk of being regarded as the new enemy especially to your friend who will see you are betraying him before his wife.
• India
6 Feb 11
If he is really a good friend of you, i feel that you should try to take some initiatives to find out who that lady is. If you find that there is something really wrong, then you first advise him personally! Even then if is does not work, then say about this to his wife.
1 person likes this