As a young girl I remember daydreaming about my perfect man: tall, dark and handsome, chivalrous, athletic, affectionate, smart, witty, loyal and generous. One day he was to come on a white horse and sweep me off my feet. Together we would ride into the sunset to our house in the suburbs (white picket fence and all) with our two perfect kids and golden retriever.
Then I started college and things changed including the definition of my perfect man. I wanted all of the aforementioned things plus I wanted him to be a great dresser, funny, able to hold his liquor, able to last more than 2 minutes in the sack and more than anything he had to be well liked by my friends–no exceptions.
Fast forward a few years, and my standards shifted even more. Now, the guys has to simply have a job, no addictions and hopefully a normal-sized penis–but even that may be too much to ask for. The idea of Mr. Quatrophysics, and more specifically the four-pillars, conjures thoughts and memories of various men in my life who did handstands on only one pillar and lacked miserably in all others.
For example….
Mr. Intellectual Stimulation (“I.S.”)
I met Mr. I.S. after college. He looked great on paper: Undergrad and MBA from a top-tier schools, midwesterner, handsome, great family, dad was a neuro-surgeon (ummm…hello Dr. McSteamy), Ironman triathlete, investment banker, successful, etc.…You’re probably thinking, "who is this guy and where can I find him?!" Although he had all going for him, Mr. I.S. was not into PDA (or any type of DA, public or not, for that matter). I thought I could handle it but quickly realized I couldn’t. This realization occurred one Sunday afternoon when I overheard a phone conversation he was having. It sounded like a business transaction so I did my best to keep busy and not distract or interrupt him. When he hung up I said, “I’m so sorry you have to work on a weekend" and he responded with, “what are you talking about? that was my dad.” Yes, Pillar III, Emotional Elevation, was lacking in a bad way. Mr. I.S. was as cold as ice; mechanical in conversation and socially inept. Mr. I.S. looked promising both aesthetically and on paper but the thought of him raising any type of normal kid was out of the question. I definitely wasn’t going to stick around to find out.
Mr. Sexual Glorification (“S.G.”)
After spending a year with a man devoid of any sexual sensation from the waist down, I met Mr. S.G. in the Hamptons. I was pretty new to the having sex thing and thought okay, I’ve heard of these things called “one night stands” and I wanted one. What better place to have one than during a weekend excursion to the yuppy-ass Hamptons? A place, where successful men prey on women. I found Mr. S.G. relatively early in the weekend. He was from Los Angeles, gorgeous, tan, perfect body, etc and was amazing in bed. By the end of the weekend, I had a renewed faith in the male species.Or, in the bedroom at least. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I was never able to find out if he satisfied any of the other quatrophysics pillars. When he asked for my contact information, I said, “why ruin this for me?” …and there we left it.
Mr. Emotional Elevation and Mr. Chivalrous Demonstration
This actually pains me to write this because what girl doesn’t want a guy to dote on her every move? Ummm…me. I’m sure if I asked this guy to drink a tub filled with my bathwater, he’d acquiesce with out any hesitation. He told me he loved me within the first month of dating and talked about marriage and having kids within the first three months. He gave me back rubs upon request, made me dinner every night and was the perfect-attentive, unselfish gentleman. After 6 months of dating we were sitting at an Olive Garden restaurant and he got down on one knee (yes, at an OLIVE GARDEN) and proceeded to ask for my hand in marriage. I said no. Actually, what I really said was “not here! Please get up!!!” All I kept thinking about was how all of my friends and family were going to ask me how he proposed and the thought of me saying, "at the Olive Garden" made me cringe. I mean, the salad and breadsticks are amazing but this is not the place where happily ever after starts. I had to break Mr. Emotional’s heart that week. I’m sure he’s wrapping up his final round of five years worth of therapy this year…
I remain resolute in my search for my Mr. Quatro. I’ve traversed NY, LA and San Francisco. Only a few major cities left. Is there a Mr. Quatro left?