We were supposed to meet at 6 o’clock. I look at my watch. It’s now 6:10. I pull out my phone to send her a text and before I can hit “send”, I see her in the distance. Denice Henry, short, modern haircut, over-sized sunglasses and conservative attire. Black Lacoste polo style shirt, slim faded jeans, black high heels and a red sweater draped casually around her neck.

We exchange pleasantries and engage in casual conversation. Henry is effortlessly pretty, college educated and rapidly moving up the corporate ladder. By anyone’s standards, she is a good catch and a “good girl”. It seems fitting that she would be equally matched with a clean cut, witty, wall street type; so why does she prefer the romantic company of a tattoo clad, slang spewing bad boy? The questions is as old as “nature versus nurture” and almost as popular as “the chicken and the egg”.

“For me, it was something about the image. I grew up in the church and all I knew was the image of the “good boys” I met there. I was sheltered most of my life. Once I got away from my parents, I just wanted to rebel,” she confessed.

Singer Mary J. Blige answered the question in the song, “Mr. Wrong”. “Bad boys ain’t no good. Good boys ain’t no fun,” she sang. Maybe that’s the reason, good boys have a conservative image and a reputation of always following the rules, which can be boring.

“When I think of a bad guy or something that is bad for you, I think of something forbidden. Sometimes, you want a “taste” of the wild side,” Henry added. Perhaps this just goes back to the theory that opposites attract.

After a bad boy or two, Henry found that it takes more than a rebellious image to capture and keep her attention. “Being with the bad boys that I chose, I soon found out that they brought a lot of issues and some baggage,” and with a laugh she added, “and ain’t nobody got time for that.”

Photo credit: http://www.firstcovers.com/userquotes/18032/good+girls+love+bad.html