Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Nice guys

Say "nice guy" around your favorite female companion and you'll likely generate glee that's right up there with baby animals and pink cocktails.

But what if nice guys don't exist?

Sorry, didn't mean to give you a heart attack. I just couldn't resist passing along this male-penned Lemondrop piece, "Sorry, girls -- there are no nice guys." The premise:

Look -- you know how you and every one of your friends dated a worthless waste of internal organs at some point in your life? That's because every single one of us is at least a little bit of a worthless waste of internal organs. You guys aren't strictly all a bunch of Ma Teresa's and church mice, either. But hey -- guys aren't all Lloyd Dobler or the Antichrist. There's a spectrum for these things -- and that's good.

I'm not a huge fan of the "nice guy" label. It's been thrown around a lot this week, with the return of "The Bachelor" and leading man Jake Pavelka.

Yes, you may be nicer than my last boyfriend. Maybe nicer than every other guy I've dated.

But will I define you chiefly with a "nice guy" label? No. The term adds a false sense of perfection to a relationship personality that's bound to have some imperfections.

Nobody uses "nice guy" to describe their boyfriend. They do, however, often use it to describe the guy who seemed a little, um, off.

Thoughts on nice guys?