DEAR ABBY: My husband gets aggravated with romantic commercials on television -- the ones where men do sweet things for their wives, like putting jewelry on them while they sleep, or pulling out that special gift at the dinner table. He says the commercials try to make men feel guilty because they aren't like the ones portrayed.
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I have tried telling him that men are, indeed, this way, but I couldn't think of any examples other than my brother and my father, who are very romantic.
There are more than two men who excel at romance, aren't there? Don't most men know how to sweep a woman off her feet? -- KELLY IN AUSTIN
DEAR KELLY: Although I haven't taken a poll, I'm guessing that a majority of men know how to sweep a woman off her feet -- which is why the species has survived. However, your husband has a point. Gifts are not the only way to make someone special feel loved.
Commercials are created in order to manipulate the public into buying, and if the amount of consumer debt being carried by U.S. households is any indication, that strategy has been extremely successful.
While diamonds may be "a girl's best friend," most women know that a life partner who gives them attention, affection, praise and assistance when they need it is a jewel more precious than any stone could ever be.