Today it's your turn to give advice to Amanda, who was shocked when her boyfriend, Chris, charged her $1,500 for work he did to her house.

That was just the most recent insult. He once broke up with her because he wanted to "press the restart button on his life." He got angry because she asked him to take out the trash. The list goes on and on.

VICTOR: Why do women expect men to take out the trash? Or think that making breakfast and providing a little nookie is payment for home repairs? Considering that most women these days consider microwaving a TV dinner to be cooking, that taking out the trash is about as strenuous as walking across the room and that a woman would likely enjoy having sex, it would seem logical that today's liberated woman would be above such stunted thinking.

Appeals to chivalry are a joke. Women killed chivalry a few decades back when they demanded to be equal to men in all ways. They can't just trot it out when it suits them. Women work and don't need a man to give them social standing, a home, transportation, etc. They should take out their own damned trash and shut up about it already.

Look at it this way: What would a woman's response be if she were visiting a date's home and he requested that she clean his bathrooms, wash his clothes and wipe down the kitchen before she left? The appropriate response would be to tell him to hire a maid service, leave and never come back.

Home-repair projects, landscaping, vehicle servicing, etc. aren't free. You can't assume anything — beyond changing the oil, caulking the bathtub or mowing the lawn — in exchange for a hot meal, a cold beer and a quickie. If you don't negotiate the payment in advance, then you get what you deserve.

JACKIE: When you're in a relationship, you do things for each other out of love. Sure, it was her house, but I'm sure he stayed there plenty. Would she have charged him to decorate his house if she were an interior designer?

DREW: He's obviously just using her. I don't understand why some women keep putting up with men like Chris. They waste good years and mess up their chance of meeting nice men.

SARA: Amanda first dated Chris before her divorce was even over. She kept trying to please him so he wouldn't follow through on his threats to leave. The project on her home was just another way to keep him in her life. She was trying to get him invested in her home. He wanted the work but didn't want to be professional and give her a full estimate at the beginning.

She asked him to give back her check? Doesn't she know how to do a stop payment on a check at the bank?

In any case, this isn't a relationship. It's nothing but a power struggle between two narcissists, one who thinks he's the center of the universe and one who thinks her kiss is powerful enough to turn a frog into a prince. They deserve each other.

Have you broken a destructive habit? How did you do it? Send your tale, along with your questions and problems to [email protected]. And check out my e-books, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front" and "I'll Call You. Not."