Gary Krugle and Marissa Teller made a very fateful decision a few months ago. They decided to hand- cuff themselves together for 90 days. “I really thought it would bring us closer together,” said Marissa. As fate would have it, however, the couple broke up immediately after taking off the handcuffs.

Marissa and Gary were having relation- ship troubles, so Marissa thought it might be a good idea if they handcuffed them- selves together for 90 days. Marissa explains, “We had been dating for about a year, and we were having good times together, but about every 2 weeks, we would have these horrendous arguments. I mean, we would *fight for like 3 hours. Then, one of us would go away, and after we both cooled off things would be fine again for another week or two.”

“Right,” adds Gary, “The arguments were so bad that it basically killed any good feelings that we had in the weeks before we fought. We didn’t want to say goodbye, but we didn’t want to continue fighting. Something had to be done”

Marissa thought that being stuck together for ninety days would force them to face their issues and appreciate each other’s vantage point. “When we fought, we fixed the problem by running away from it. One of us would leave and we would calm down, but when we got back together, we never really discussed the issue.”

Gary was doubtful about being cuffed together but decided that it would be worth a try. “I was literally fatigued by our relationship—the emotional ups and downs. So I figured if we can’t fix this by being bound together for ninety days, then our relationship was unfixable.”

The handcuffs were welded shut forcing them to wear them 24/7. One of the first obstacles they faced was trying to get dressed. They had to alter their shirts so they could get them over their handcuffed arms. “You can’t put two arms through one sleeve,” said Gary.

Managing their personal hygiene was also problematic. “Taking showers together is fine when things are good between you, but not so pleasant when you’re not happy with each other for some reason. Brushing your teeth, putting on make-up, and going to the toilet—well, you can imagine,” said Marissa.

Other problems came about when doing daily chores such as washing dishes, or sweeping and mopping the floors. “He wanted to do things one way, and I another. So we ended up fighting more, not less,” said Marissa.

“We realized pretty quickly on, that we just weren’t meant for each other,” said Gary.

*fight, in this context means to argue, not physical violence; not hitting