Cool and aloof and standing alone in the corner of the bar, he's desired and wanted by every woman in the room. He's attractive, but it's not his looks as much as his attitude that makes him so wanted. He's arrogant and intriguing. He's unpredictable: he dates a woman once and she never knows whether she'll see him again or not. He says he'll call tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes.

We often find ourselves amid the wreckage of a love gone wrong, wringing our hands and asking, "Why did he or she turn out to be such a jerk?" I'm sure that person made many of the 7 Dumbest Relationship Mistakes, but what you should be asking yourself is, "Which mistakes did I make and how could I have prevented this?"

Sure, it takes two to tango, and if he (or she) was really a jerk, you think you probably couldn't have done anything differently, but you could have.

On Friday night, Leslie and her live-in boyfriend of 8 months were at his mom's house for a fried chicken dinner, and Leslie took a few pieces home with her because it was so good.

Her boyfriend is a health food nut and doesn't eat fried chicken and rides Leslie about what she eats. He seemed to have an attitude when she got in the car with the chicken and made a comment about why she had to bring some home with her.