The Tale of Frienda

This is dedicated to a certain Paramount Page…you know who you are.

I love a good pathetic girl story. You know what I'm talking about. Those girls who pine for a guy and you watch the guys treat them like crapola. Trust me when I say…I know what I'm talking about, for I too was in a bad relationship that dragged on WAY too long. I dated a loser guy for six long years, and no one knew why. My only answer was: love. I was also a "Frienda".

My friend Dale dated a girl named Brenda. But he didn't really "date" her – he just knew she was into him, so he somewhat used Brenda to… well…meet other women. "Women are attracted to men who aren't available," he stated to me. And you know what? Dale was right.

Dale nicknamed Brenda "Frienda" – she was always his friend, but that was about it. Dale was a player at the time of this tale. He slept with numerous women, worked his ass off so he could afford to take women out on "nice dates" – but not Frienda. Nope Frienda, would sit in her apartment waiting for Dale to call, text or email her. She'd make him killer dinners from her $10 an hour job, hoping he might just "stop by" – but he never did. Nope Dale even had the gall to hook up with her roommate! And when she found out…what she'd do? Yep…she forgave him. Poor pathetic Frienda.

What was the allure of Dale? Was Frienda's self esteem so low that she didn't see that Dale was a total and absolute jerk to her? Wake up Frienda!

"Oh she knew I just wanted to be friends," Dale tells me, "she just didn't care how bad I treated her… Hell to this day we're still friends." Say what?

"What exactly is a Frienda?" I asked Dale. Answer: not a girlfriend, not a friend, but …an emotional connection with the opposite sex not necessarily with the sexual benefits. "A sympathy date," he ended with.

Ouch.

"That sounded bad. It's just the truth," Dale tells me. Trust me when I tell you, Dale was telling me this tale as we are on a hiking "date" and I somewhat was treading with caution by this point.

Dale you are an honest guy. But ladies, be true to yourself and leery of the Frienda status. The new adage, "he's just not that into you" rings true here. And well…he might be using your Frienda status to meet other women. So move on…and move quickly.