Wednesday, March 8, 2006

The Importance Of A Good Woman

It struck me the other night, as my girlfriend and I went out to dinner with a stock broker friend of mine, that it really is weird how some people who are completely incompatible can nonetheless make for a great couple. I say this because my friend Drew is the epitome of what it means to be a type A personality. Granted, he is not quite as high strung a guy as, say, CNBC financial and investing guru Jim Cramer (then again, who really is? BOOYAH!), but suffice it to say, Drew’s motor runs on all cylinders every waking moment.

His girlfriend of two years now, Katie , however, is another story entirely. She’s your typical Mid-Western woman: polite, soft-spoken and absolutely without an ounce of guile (she’s also pretty hot-looking, too). I’ve known them both for as long as they’ve been dating, and if anyone would have asked me at the outset of their becoming a couple if they’d still be together today, I would have answered absolutely in the negative. I just thought Drew was going to quickly end up finding her, not only too boring, but unable to deal with his aggressive and prickly side, which, and this is just the amateur psychologist in me speaking, is a manifestation/defense mechanism related to his admittedly stressful and competitive line of work

Surprisingly enough, though, this has not proven to be the case. Not by a long shot. In fact, when he’s with her, Drew is like a completely different guy than from how you might find him to be at the office or when he’s out with just us guys alone. Maybe it’s because he has truly found his calming influence soul mate in her, but when Katie is in the picture, gone are Drew’s staccato and declamatory way of talking as well as his sometimes confrontational approach to interacting with others (which, at 6'3'', 220, Drew can get away with rather easily. It's kind of like imagining a guy like Bill O'Reilly, let's say, being the in your face Bill O'Reilly we've all come to know, except picture him trying to pull off his well worn tough guy schtick if he were 5'6" instead of 6'4", which he is by the way. Can't do it, right? Thought so). In her presence, he magically morphs into a noticeably softer-edged version of himself (think Tony Soprano on his best behavior, in--please, oh, please forgive me, Carmella, for having yet another sex romp with one of the Bada-Bing girls--mode). Now, don’t get me wrong. At his core, Drew is a decent guy. It’s just that in this case, anyway, it really is true when they say: "Behind every good man stands a good woman."