People come in all shapes and sizes, but there seem to be certain types that we attract more than others. Are you familiar with these four?
1. The Well-Meaning Chauvinist
He might seem like the ultimate sweetheart at first: always keeping the door open for you, helping you carry your shopping bags, changing your light bulbs… Whether you have the Well-Meaning Chauvinist as your friend or your significant other, his helpfulness will absolutely charm you. What a generous, selfless person, right? Look closer. Or should I say, listen closer: at some point his true opinions will show and you will not be able to believe you heard him correctly. You thank him for helping you fix your computer, and he’ll reply,”Of course, it’s not like you would have understood any of it.” You, in turn, offer to buy him dinner or help him move, and he will make a comment about traditional gender roles and the poor, weaker sex, whose members shouldn’t worry themselves with such financial and/or physicals burdens. What a sweetheart, eh?
2. The Artist
Veiled in mystery and drenched in existential pathos, the Artist will make your heart skip a beat with his ink-stained hands and his bohemian lifestyle. Or if his rants about his newest art projects don’t exactly make you swoon, he’s at least a very interesting person to talk to. You probably want to be his muse, just a little bit? Chances are you’re not dealing with a real-life Jack Dawson here. Some people desperately need an audience: the Artist is drawn to people on whom, like on empty canvases, he can paint self-portraits. Your genuine interest in his passions will turn you into a chunk of marble in his eyes – you’ll gofrom (girl)friend to groupie in seconds!
3. The Sensei
It’s good to have people who listen. It’s also good to have people who give helpful advice. An occasional intervention from these people might also be welcome. But the Sensei goes so much further. He seems to know precisely how life (especially yours) should be lived. His expertise ranges from A to Z: from what you should major in to what kind of shoes make you look cheap; you can always count on him for an opinion.
4. The Dog
If the Sensei has an opinion on everything, the Dog seems to have none. This person feels like a piece of wet soap: you simply cannot get a hold of him. For some reason he has decided he has to please you at all costs –either he is romantically interested, or he feels he might benefit from your favorable disposition towards him in some other way. His course of action: to agree with absolutely anything you say. Seriously. He might have told you just five seconds ago how he hates that up-and-rising local band –you disagreed with him and, lo and behold, suddenly he is covered head to toe in their poorly produced merchandise and working on an a cappella cover of their latest hit.
Find a guy who appreciates you as you are –who doesn’t put you on a pedestal or treat you as an object, but who wants to know the real you!