When Other People Tell You What ‘You’ Want

Some of the most entertaining radio is when Tom Leykis does an hour on how he enjoys being unmarried and living alone - and women call up to argue with him, thereby proving his point for him: that he doesn’t want to live with anyone else, let alone an argumentative, presumptuous nag.

It is amusing to listen to people who know only what Leykis has revealed about himself on the air try to tell Leykis what he really wants – as if a carefully thought-out, successful, middle-aged man who has (by his own public statement) spent a lot of time in therapy and has been married four times, has had other women living with him, and has lived alone (so he's experienced many different lifestyles) needs a stranger to tell him what he “really” wants as far as a living arrangement. Most likely, these people are really communicating what they want, or what they have and think they should be happy with, but may not be.

I think he has a good idea by now what he wants. Now, I chose to get married. That’s what I wanted. I don’t presume to think that is what everyone wants.

When women call in to argue with Leykis to tell him he either doesn't really like living alone, or he shouldn't, they are reinforcing one of the main reasons WHY he - and other men - choose to live alone: peace, quiet, and autonomy.