I still don't know why I didn't throw that disgusting toothbrush away!

MissAttitude

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Web Producer and Adjunct Professor

I'm a professional woman in my 30s who's spent the last 13 years working in TV news. I love shoes, shopping and blogging. I also have an advice column. In the name of full disclosure I have to admit I don’t have a background in psychology, unless you count that one college course freshman year ...

Tuesday, August, 12, 2008

I've been thinking a lot about my love life, or lack thereof, lately. Sometimes when I've gone a while without dating, and am not quite ready to get back in the game I spend time rehashing past relationships. Sometimes it's just to remind myself why I prefer being single, while other times it's just for pure entertainment. Today I want to talk about Ketchup Boy. I started dating him, shortly after moving to Memphis.

Ketchup Boy, or KB for short, was very stuck in his ways, particularly for a man in his early 30s. KB only wanted to go to the same bars and restaurants; he never wanted to try anything different. He always ordered pizza the same way, with pepperoni and sausage. It didn't matter that I had to pick off the sausage every time. Okay, not totally true. He actually ordered just pepperoni ONCE. But the change bothered him so much, he went right back to ordering it his way and watching me pick off the sausage. As for his hamburgers, KB ordered them plain. He actually was afraid of putting ketchup on his burger. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you this. He didn't have an aversion to tomatoes or an allergy. He was afraid of trying ketchup on his burger. Afraid, I tell you!

I'll get to more on the ketchup in a minute, but first I have to tell you about the toothbrush. I actually found this out before we started dating, and I still dated him. KB has had the same toothbrush since he was in high school. Seriously, the SAME toothbrush! It's disgusting! I'm a total germ freak, and actually try to make myself forget a story I once saw about how germs from the toilet spread to your toothbrush just from being in the bathroom together.

So you can imagine my dismay to this confession. I have a vague recollection of him admitting to sterilizing it with boiling water once in a while, but honestly it's hard to be sure. He said the reason was he liked that toothbrush so much and couldn't find one with bristles quite like that. But I knew better. This man didn't like change of any kind, not even involving a toothbrush. I kept telling him how disgusted I was by the toothbrush, but it didn't matter. One of his friends, the one who actually introduced us, learned about it when I did. We taunted him mercilessly, but to no avail. I was so tempted on several occasions to throw that disgusting thing out. But I knew if I did, we would be through. I'm not exaggerating.

When he did break up with me, yes you read right he broke up with me, I had a fleeting thought of throwing it out as a parting gift. Not only would he remember me forever, I'd be doing his teeth a big favor! Although in his defense, he didn't have any cavities. But I digress. I'm working my way back to the fear of ketchup. He broke up with me because he knew I was going to move back to Tampa. I hadn't made the decision yet, but it was obvious to him how unhappy I was, and that my life was here. And when we had "the talk" he admitted he didn't want to invest any more in the relationship to only get his heart broken. When I tried to question the logic KB asked, and I'm paraphrasing here though I wish I'd written down the quote, what did I expect from a guy who's afraid of ketchup?

Stylishly yours,
Miss Attitude