ArcaMax

Dear Amy: I am a personal trainer in my early 20s. I have been hooking up with a woman (almost 40) for the past few months, two or three times a week. Her husband found out about us. Yesterday, he called the gym where I work and also called my mother and told her I was sleeping with his wife. My mom is furious. Then he came after me at the gym.

I told him to calm down, but he took a swing at me and we fought. I knocked him out cold. He was out cold for about five minutes on the floor.

The manager at the gym fired me for fighting. I think it was wrong of the manager to do that, as I was only defending myself.

Now I’m wondering how to get my job back. I talked to my lady friend and she told me her husband is home in bed with a couple of broken ribs and a headache. He couldn't go to work today.

How can I get my job back?

— Well Trained

Dear Trained: “My mom is furious” is a sign that you aren’t grown up enough to shoulder the burden of being a true badass. I hope you wise up.

I think you are very lucky that you weren't arrested for assault. Your manager was justified in firing you. Your behavior put this business (and other patrons) at great risk.

I would not want to attend a gym where a trainer regularly hooked up with a married patron, and then beat that person's husband to unconsciousness – right there in the gym. You obviously take no responsibility for your own actions and how they contributed to the outcome.

Dear Amy: I always assumed that my hairstylist of many years and I didn't see eye to eye on most political issues, but we kept our talk to personal lives and movies and TV shows.

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