Our good friend Emily Gordon from Lemondrop has a problem: she hates her boyfriend's obnoxious pal. We've all been there, and it is the worst.

Check out Emily's open letter to guys with jerky friends below, and stay tuned for my response. Share your experiences in the comments. Emily needs our help!

Dear men,

I know you don't know me, so I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I think I'm a pretty badass girlfriend. I like horror movies, I play video games, and I can keep up with any guy banter at parties. My boyfriend Trey* and I have a great relationship where we spend time together because we genuinely enjoy each other, not because we feel like we have to. We are both fine hanging out together or separately, and friends have long become our friends. 

So why on earth do I hate Joe** so much? Trey's old friend recently moved back into our town, and somehow, his presence turns me into the obnoxious, cliché, annoying girlfriend from romantic comedies that I've pitied in the past. You know, the kind that goes "Do we have to hang out with him?," rolls her eyes when he walks up, and tries to separate her man from his friend by using the oldest trick in the book, cleavage. The kind of girl that the guy leaves for the fun-loving tomboy hottie at the end of the movie. This is distressing because I'm supposed to be that fun-loving girl!

And I promise, I'm not the jealous type. Trey is a comedian on top of being an awesome guy, so I'm used to people wanting to hang out with him. I have no problems with any of the people in our lives except Joe. Maybe it's because, since he returned into Trey's life, he drags my boyfriend into long intense conversations that can't possibly include anyone else no matter what the social situation. Maybe it's because he always invites himself along on outings with us. It might be his intense lack of social skills, which leads him to shout-speak the same story about meeting Jon Favreau three times. Or maybe it's because, the consummate single dude that he is, Joe will tell Trey that he should really come to a party because "there'll be a lot of hot babes there." When we arrive together at the aforementioned party, he greets Trey warmly and then says "Ohhh, you brought Emily!."

Guess what dude? He's always going to be bringing me. Because in the years that you and he have been apart, Trey grew up a bit, stopped working at Fuddruckers, and fell in love. He's not your BFF anymore. 

Some of you might say I'm threatened, and I'm willing to admit that I might be. I consider Trey to have good taste in friends, so when I see someone a bit obnoxious slip through the cracks, it bugs me. It also bugs me that Joe seems to think of me as an accessory to Trey, an obstruction blocking his way into Fun Land. I'm used to winning guys over who think all girlfriends are lame, and maybe it infuriates me that Joe won't get on board. So naturally, I want to punch him. 

I see that this may be a problem, and I come to you, men of Guyspeak, for help. What should I do?

* Not his real name
** Obviously not his real name

Emily,

I feel your pain. (Well, not currently. All of my girlfriend's friends are absolutely wonderful people who I have no problem with whatsoever.) But in the past, there's occasionally been that one friend who drives me crazy. We can choose our friends, but we (sadly) can't choose our significant other's friends.

Believe me, your boyfriend knows "Joe" is a Cro-magnon Robo-Douche and is hoping he'll realize that they're both no longer 21 and mellow the f-- out. For now, the nostalgia factor-- remembering the good times they once had-- is probably all that's keeping the friendship together. The moment when you realize you've outgrown an old friend is tough, but, in some cases, it's tempered with the knowledge that you no longer have to spend time with a dude whose idea of wit is a t-shirt that claims he has federal jurisdiction to inspect breasts.

You probably aren't alone in your hatred of "Joe." Chances are, at least one of your boyfriend's pals has commented on Joe's lack of social graces. The more awkward he makes things, the less he'll be invited to future gatherings and the sooner he'll be relegated from friend to "casual acquaintance."  

Eventually "Trey" will phase out his awful friend. Guys don't really "break up" with friends the way women sometimes do. When a friend is being a jerk, we'll tell them straight up and/or punch them in a sensitive region. If they get to be a drag, we'll stop returning their calls or remove their PlayStation ID from our friends list. Sooner or later, they get the idea. Not the most mature way of handling things, but relatively drama free.

Definitely share your feelings with "Trey." In the meantime, try not to be alone with "Joe"-- particularly when also in the presence of sharp objects.