The things people do these days leaves me utterly flabbergasted. A man named Rogelio Andaverde was abducted from his home -- right in front of his terrified wife no less -- by two masked gunmen in Edinburg, Texas. She immediately called the cops, who undertook a search for the 34-year-old, and was subjected to over 5 hours of questioning.  To his wife's relief, he returned the next morning unharmed, claiming the kidnappers had let him go. But the cops weren't buying it; they found his story suspicious, and their doubts were not unfounded.  Andaverde later confessed to staging the kidnapping just so he could go out for drinks with his friends! Two of his buddies had posed as his abductors, both of whom were wearing masks to hide their faces and carrying guns. Andaverde was arrested on charges of making a false report to police, later to be released on bail. A person truly has to be desperate to pull off a stunt like this. Even if we were to assume that...

Studies show that far more women are skipping marriage today than was the case two, even three decades ago. Plus, what many women are saying on social media regarding the perils of tying the knot corroborates these findings. This morning, I was sifting through posts on the Facebook page for Psychology Today. One of them posed an intriguing question: Do women these days still find great value in getting married? Judging from the comments to the post, many of them do not. One woman stated plainly that after dating several non-committal men, she's grown tired of pushing marriage on these guys with nothing to show for it. Another said that she refuses to take the plunge again after being cheated on by two of her husbands. Still another admitted that she's never wanted to be tied down, instead valuing the flexibility of singlehood. For many women, the perks of being married -- like additional tax and insurance benefits -- just aren't sufficient to offset the problems tha...

If you feel unfulfilled at work and reason that your lack of friendships in the workplace is the culprit, think again. Mixing business and pleasure is ill-advised. It's appalling how many of my coworkers open up about their personal lives to other people in the department. For example, a young woman who sits in the cubicle next to me recently broke up with her boyfriend and has made it a habit of hers to spill her guts about the breakup every day. I understand human beings have an inherent need to bond with and seek consolation from those in their immediate environment, but that's what parents, spouses, siblings, and friends outside of work are for. Relating details of your personal life to coworkers has the potential to blow up in your face. You never know who you can really trust out there, especially when dealing with people in the workplace whom you may not know all that well. Perhaps you feel comfortable enough to do this with coworkers whom you've been worki...

While I tend to be quite open with my wife about how I feel, many of my male friends do the exact opposite. In fact, they tend to alienate themselves from me -- and presumably others -- when they're going through tough times in their lives. Based on what I've gathered, the reason men don't like to express themselves simply boils down to this: they feel others will perceive it as weakness. But what men have to understand is that we're only human. It's okay for men to cry. It's okay for men to admit they need a shoulder to lean on. Women won't think any less of you if you get emotional. Sure, most women would prefer that men not overdo it. For example, they wouldn't want their partners to cry more than they do. But the notion that men should not cry under any circumstances is absolutely ludicrous. If anything, most women prefer that men shed tears when justified -- it shows a sensitive part of them that probably doesn't come out often. And men do...