By Amanda Gabriel
Elm Staff Writer
The Player
Characteristics: good-looking, outgoing, the life of the party, charming, hubristic
Beware of the classic player. He will use you, lead you on, then get rid of you when he is finished. He will not take the time to get to know you, but instead he will take you for granted. His talk may be smooth, but anything that comes out of his mouth is insincere. He will lie to you and tell you what you want to hear in order to gain your trust, often times feeding you endless excuses for his despicable actions. Players will tell you that they want to get to know you while never following through and leaving you on the backburner. They know how to play the game because they have had a great deal of practice on many victims — so do not be one of them.
The Control Freak
Characteristics: clingy, needy, overprotective, controlling, easily annoyed, and jealous
Just like a player, you may be able to spot a control freak from a mile away, or their true intentions may be hidden. Speaking from personal experience, getting involved with this stereotype is not healthy. A control freak is not happy until they are able to know and command every action you make. He will get angry when you go out with your friends, especially if he does not know them or they are guys, because he gets jealous extremely easily. He will demand that you text and call him every minute of every day and explode when you do not respond to his texts. Allowing someone to control who you are and what you do is not acceptable, so stay away from these situations.
The Lesser Man
Characteristics: insecure, unforgiving, unsure, confused
Unlike the last two, the lesser man does not have a huge reputation, but he is out there. Because he is often times insecure in his own body, he will try and bring you down to his level and destroy your confidence to make him feel better about himself. In his mind, he knows that you deserve better, so he insults you to try and keep you from realizing the same thing. He believes if you are busy questioning your own self-worth, appearance, and purpose, then you will have no time to see the truth about him. Instead you will cling to him. Do not put up with such abuse, because no person deserves to be put in this situation.