My confused friend Catman (not his real name) asks: "What does it mean when girls tell you that you're 'too nice'? I don't understand. How can you be 'too nice' anyway? And even if you were nice - isn't that a good thing? I've always thought it was good to be nice! I've had two girls tell me the same thing this last year alone. Did I miss a memo or something? Is there some newly developed definition of the word 'nice' I don't know about?"

I wish I could help you, Catman, but honestly, I don't know what it means either. I've gone out with boys and had my fair share of things not quite working out due to various reasons (religious differences, allergic reactions to my cats, vegetarianism, Bon Jovi albums) - but I don't ever recall someone being "too nice" ever being a negative. I am aware, however, that there are girls out there who consider it a problem and unfortunately, you are not the first male friend of mine to have encountered it. Tell you what, we'll do some research. I'll try to run up a survey or something, gather information and all that and try to come up with some kind of definition.

Anybody got any ideas?