# Why does the grass look greener on the other side?



## HurtinginTN (Feb 22, 2011)

Because it is!!!!! This saying is a common one. Everyone gets the implications, but most people have never seen the basis for the saying. We used to be a largely agrarian society at one point. I'm sure that's when the saying became common.

Last night, I met my in-laws at church. The kids came up with them and I came from work. There are some horses in a field behind the church and the kids went over to pet them and feed them some grass. The horses have a large pasture, yet were reaching their heads over the fence for the grass the kids were picking from the other side and feeding them. They would also reach their heads under the fence as far as they could to get some of the "other" grass.

Growing up on a farm, I would see this all the time. Cows will get down on their knees and stretch as far as they can under the fence to get that "other" grass. They'll make a hole or find a hole in the fence to get to the "other" grass.

What makes the "other" grass so appealing? Last night, while watching the horses, it dawned on me. The grass IS better on the other side. Why? NOTHING HAS BEEN EATING IT!!! The pasture where they are has been grazed pretty low. The yard of the church has not. The grass on that side of the fence is better.

However, it would only be a very short time if the fence was removed before both patches of grass were equal. Actually, the original patch would become better. The horses would spend most of their time eating this tender, new grass and the original patch could recover. It wouldn't be very long at all before the "new improved" patch would be the worse one. We used to rotate fields in this way. Keep the cows in a particular field for a while. Before long, they would reach their heads under the fence for "field 2". Then, you move the cows to "field 2" for a while. Before long, they are reaching their heads under the fence for "field 1" again.

The correlation to our situation is that the grass not only looks greener on the OM or OW. IT IS. However, it is only because the "grazing" of reality hasn't mowed it yet. For example, my wife has never given her OM a honey-do list. He has never heard her snoring. They have never felt financial pressures. They have never had anything related to reality to bring pressure to the relationship. Sure, grass will thrive in that situation. Once reality sets in, the grass on the "other" side quickly deteriorates. I believe this is the reason that 99% or so of affairs do not last long term.


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## Shooboomafoo (Mar 30, 2011)

Enjoyed this analogy. Thanks HTN.


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## paramore (Jan 11, 2011)

Very good post Hurt.


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## cb45 (Oct 2, 2009)

interesting take on it/this, HTN.

yet i believe the original intention of the saying was how when we look yonder on dem dare hills & see how green they seem from afar off.......only to be weed-stricken, bald patches, not so
green/not so healthy when seen up close like a lover often finds
when leaving one for another.

ya digg? :scratchhead:

now, thats not to say that on occasions (rare/rarely?) it indeed 
is greener....aye?

but THATS another story........


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## Shooboomafoo (Mar 30, 2011)

It sometimes gets to me in considering how the infidel could even be so glazed over when the very first, most important detail of the consideration of a "future" with the other person, is blatant anti-marriage. Heres someone (OM/OW) who has such a lack of character and scaly, as to inject themselves into a marriage!! So someday, you and he can sit on the couch together, and each be on your I-Phones, texting each others' lovers. Way to start something new with all that trust, and exhuberant flawless character between you. My eyes are burning.


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## baldmale (Dec 29, 2010)

Like I read in one of the infidelity books "the grass _is_ greener, until _you_ have to mow it."


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## HurtinginTN (Feb 22, 2011)

baldmale said:


> Like I read in one of the infidelity books "the grass _is_ greener, until _you_ have to mow it."


Wow, I like that one.


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## LonelyNLost (Dec 11, 2010)

baldmale said:


> Like I read in one of the infidelity books "the grass _is_ greener, until _you_ have to mow it."


Exactly!


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## HurtinginTN (Feb 22, 2011)

cb45 said:


> yet i believe the original intention of the saying was how when we look yonder on dem dare hills & see how green they seem from afar off.......only to be weed-stricken, bald patches, not so
> green/not so healthy when seen up close like a lover often finds
> when leaving one for another.




Yes, that would fit also. I don't know what the original intent was, but either fits well. Bald patches, lol. I hope his bald patch is bigger than mine but nothing else is bigger than mine. lol


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## Lilyana (Apr 12, 2011)

The grass is greenier on the other side because its fertalized with bullsh*t!


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## SadSamIAm (Oct 29, 2010)

I don't think it is 'greener' very often. 

The other person is someone who will sleep with a married person. They might be married themselves which makes them a cheater. Or they might be middle aged and never had a partner or maybe middle aged and had many partners. They might have had multiple marriages.

My guess is the grass only appears greener ... but isn't.


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## AppleDucklings (Mar 27, 2011)

Lilyana said:


> The grass is greenier on the other side because its fertalized with bullsh*t!


:smthumbup: This is exactly what I was going to say!


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## HurtinginTN (Feb 22, 2011)

Lilyana said:


> The grass is greenier on the other side because its fertalized with bullsh*t!


WOW! Very good one. I just spread a lot of BS on my yard (very well composted, so no smell) to make the grass greener. That is an excellent comparison. I'll have to pass that one on to my . . . what do I call her? I guess wife is still the appropriate term.


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## AppleDucklings (Mar 27, 2011)

Very good. I understand completely what you are saying. I also grew up on a farm and we wold move the cows by horseback from one pasture to another. But when our spouses do come back to their home pasture after the grass is eaten on the other pasture, what will we do to ensure that our grass is always greener?


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## Lilyana (Apr 12, 2011)

Mine won't get a chace to come back.. maybe I'm speaking in anger because my wounds are fairly recent... but.. right now.. i can't even imagine giving him a hug without ringing his neck.

But yeah the "bullsh*t" line was the first one that came to my mind when i read the title of this thread.. so i had to post it lol


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## HurtinginTN (Feb 22, 2011)

AppleDucklings said:


> Very good. I understand completely what you are saying. I also grew up on a farm and we wold move the cows by horseback from one pasture to another. But when our spouses do come back to their home pasture after the grass is eaten on the other pasture, what will we do to ensure that our grass is always greener?


I told my wife this scenario. I told her when she leaves to go to that green grass only to find out it isn't what she thought, this pasture very likely will be inhabited by another cow. (Not calling my wife or future female companionship a cow. I just used cows in my example.)


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## Pit-of-my-stomach (Nov 2, 2010)

My dad says the greenest grass is always over a septic tank.


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