LOL. Right up there with the, "All men are sexual predators at heart!" earlier in the thread.
Too many people in this thread confuse 'happy' with 'perfect', and want to couch a fairly general male proclivity toward wanting to 'spread heir seed around' in predatory terms, where simple opportunism is the answer. The quote from the comedian earlier in the thread was apt, barring any firm sense of morals in a man.
I firmly believe that if you make a monogamous commitment you should make a good faith effort to maintain the terms of that commitment. You should be as honest as you can reasonably be, and make a good faith effort to live up to your commitments (in all things). If you have to work on 'keeping things fresh', do that. I you have to renegotiate the terms of that commitment, then do that. With that being said, life is long and complicated, and stuff happens. Blowing up your reasonably happy life, and a reasonably happy relationship, because you're having a hankering to put your genitals someplace new is often a 'bad call' that can have a range of lasting consequences. I have a lot more respect for the guys that aren't kidding themselves, and discreetly step out to try to satisfy their needs / wants in a manner that is relatively safe, than they guys that that blow up their lives and their families in a fit of stupid with civis or sexworkers.
Oh, and exposing you partner unknowingly to STIs is a shitty thing to do in all cases, so be safer in your play if you must step out.
(I'm a long standing bachelor who actively dates, and has FWB arrangements, FWIW. At this point I wouldn't mind trying something a little more serious, but nothing recent has worked out. Hmph, it is what it is, and I'm certainly not claiming to be a stud or pickup artist.)
