My Pet Peeve
By Alysha A. Cobb
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Major: Broadcast Journalism
E-mail address: lylyco6@aol.com

        Everyone is familiar with the old saying “Men -- you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them.” Well, the other day I met this “man” and he took aggravation to another level. This “man,” who shall remain nameless, came across as calm, cool, and collected. We are both involved in serious outside relationships so I honestly thought I found a friend with whom I could communicate with on a relatively mature level. Our conversation was deep, but something in the back of my mind (an intuition that only another woman could understand), softly whispered for me to slowly back away.
         Before I acknowledged the red flag waving blatantly in front of my face, it was too late. I had been sucked into a twisted, unwanted association with a man who had the nerve to attempt to analyze me after our second conversation. Now, he had been forewarned. I specifically said, “Do not attempt to analyze me. You will fail, and inadvertently continue to make mistakes.” He chose not to heed my warning and became the epitome of what I personally despise – a man who thinks he knows it all.
         I do not know who died and made him god of psychoanalysis and it was obvious that he needed to be reborn. As I predicted, his feeble attempt to analyze my complex character led to his own demise. As I laughed inside my head, he proceeded to tell me what type of woman I am. You know, the spoiled materialistic type who could only be satisfied with a man like himself. Next, he went on to compare me to all other women he has dated, repeatedly stated that he could not trust me, but still wanted to know where our supposed relationship was heading. Where did this self-professed prophet come from? Did this man, who was three years my elder, forget to grow up? This brief conversation made me re-evaluate the validity of the infamous cliché “Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.” But obviously nature has its own imperfections and some of them we just cannot live without.

© 2001 Alysha A. Cobb