Are You That Somebody?

I'm good for reading a book and writing down lines from them. Not for any specific reason, but some words, strategically placed together, seem more important than others. I'm good for rereading books and finding different sentences than the first time. So, I'm rereading The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara, one of my favorite books and I read this line:

"Be good to me, bitch, cause no one else has so you take the weight."

Backdrop: A man walks by a kitchen window and sees a woman. He proceeds to grap a mop, bust out the window, and rape the woman. That line is part of what he says to her while raping her.

No, I am not going to connect this to me at all or discuss the actual rape that takes place in the scene. However, with all the recent discussions of relationships going on (specifically KMM, JMM, ARL, ELH, BDC)this line stuck out to me. Do men think this? Do people generally allow their past experiences to completely control and change the outcome of their future experiences? Should I be punished for the way the previous woman treated you? Should men be punished for the way (as Musiq would say) "Previous Cats" behaved? And does this then make it difficult for people to desire new relationships? Do people run frantic from the thought of truly loving another as more than a friend? And how do you know when it really is time to pursue a relationship instead of just chillin?

See how I left that open for comments. What do you think?