Going balmy on February 16, 1998…

Dear Breakup Girl,

I dated this guy over the summer and fell in love with him. He was real nice, sweet, and caring and I didn’t think I would lose him, but I did. Ever since then I’ve felt empty and just use guys as some kind of toy to play with. I know I’ve hurt a couple of people and I feel bad about it, but I can’t help it. I still love that guy but I don’t know if he still likes me, should I keep chasing him or should I stop. And how do I quit treating guys like a toy to play with?

— Samantha

Dear Samantha,

If there were such a thing as Breakup Girl Laboratories, they would be hard at work on the Boyfriend Patch. Available in fashion colors and Hello, Kitty designs, the Patch would, in the absence of an actual or particular pined-after boyfriend, provide the fix-of-the-quickie that we so often crave.

In the meantime, though, I will tell you that toy-boys are much like Carmex lip balm and the alleged conspiracy behind it. The idea being that your lips are chapped, you apply Carmex, they feel better momentarily… but… “Mulder, are you suggesting that Carmex itself actually makes your lips feel chapped again.?

You see where Breakup Girl is going with this. You feel empty, you mess around, you feel better momentarily … but … the fling itself actually makes you feel emptier. It serves not as a statsfying replacement for your summer Mulder, but as an acute reminder that you don’t have him.

So. Flings, as you saw in Breakup Girl Meets Miss Fling are not Bad; it’s just that a lot of the time, if you’re not careful, people wind up feeling bad. Now, if Breakup Girl could tell you exactly how to stop doing this, she could also tell everyone exactly how to stop smoking, eating junk food, and buying shoes they “need,” and everyone would actually do it. What Breakup Girl can tell you is that you can help it, if you truly want to. Here’s the key: figure out what triggers the need to “use” someone — I don’t know, maybe getting dissed when in your attempts to chase summer boy, or maybe drinking? — and avoid those triggers. Put a Hello, Kitty sticker on your shoulder if you need reminding.

Love,
Breakup Girl