Free Will

Dr. Helen:

A reader (thanks!) sent me this interesting video with a panel of female students from the University of Georgia talking to a reporter at MSNBC about college guys and their slacking. When the conversation turned to their personal lives, the women talked about how hard it was to find a high-level guy, how guys had the advantage and just didn't care and showed up for dates in a dirty t-shirt holding a bag of condoms while they were taking their time trying to dress up and look nice for the date.

This was one of the most confusing aspects of my early life in the West. I was around 15 and studying at an American high school. There were a few wretched resident kids there who smoked not just tobacco, drank, broke curfew, reeked like a party of skunks and yet had some of the best looking girls in their orbit. I just didn't understand how and why so many girls would choose such horrible characters as their boyfriends.

Then there were the hard working students who took Advanced Placement courses, were members of the National Honor Society, earned numerous awards and yet most girls treated them like lepers. (Awww, you belonged to this group, didn't you? -- Ed. Shut up! -- Isaac.)

Today, I understand the "logic" more clearly but still it's a sad state of affairs.