A friend recently went on a blindish date. I say "blindish" because she and the guy had talked once or twice, but this was their first face-to-face meeting. It was also their first face-to-face in-depth conversation.

After the date, I asked how the guy turned out, and she said, "He's nice." To which I responded, "Ohhhh."

Now, it wasn't "Oh" as in "These $700 shoes are on sale for $7." It was the kind of "Ohhhh" that would follow a sentence like "You caught your best friend in bed with your husband." Or maybe, "Gee, so you mean you can't fit into those size four Daisy Dukes anymore?"

You get the idea. It was "Ohhhh" as in "That's a shame." The guy was nice, Just Nice. Not hot, not fine, not even a great big jerk whom you wanted to kick in the head. Just Nice.

So here's the question: Why is Just Nice a bad thing? I know all about nice guys finishing last and all that. I also know about women consistently falling for bad-boy jerk after bad-boy jerk, all the while lamenting the loss of the world's nice guys. So there's no need to explain how women are all weirded out about a nice guy.

But Nice doesn't inspire passion. It's got nothing to do with manners, charm, fun or being treated right. For all their flaws, the one thing that bad boys do is inspire passion.

The best I can come up with for the Nice Guys is "I could see myself ..." As in, "I could see myself picking out a china set with Jim, who's the sweetest guy in the world."

"I could see myself sitting on the back porch with Jim, surrounded by grandchildren and saying 'No!' and 'Stop that!' " (Steel Magnolias reference, sorry.)

But I cannot see myself showing up at Nice's apartment in nothing but whipped cream and a smile. (OK, so maybe I could see myself doing that, but only because it would probably freak Nice so far out as to be hilarious. Well, to me anyway.)

I cannot see myself making out with Nice and doing naughty things in the back row of a movie theater. Nice is sweet, but he isn't hot. In fact, Nice's middle name is "Just Friends."

So back to my friend. After I explained my disappointment on her behalf that her date turned out to be Just Nice, she instantly clarified. He is not Just Nice. He's cool-nice. He's relationship-nice. And that's a different thing entirely.

That kind of nice is nice like "Maybe our next date should be catching a midnight showing of Hairspray. Which he's got no interest in and I've already seen."

Whipped cream outfits inspire an entirely different form of "Ohhh." E-mail Bridgette at brwilliams@quickdfw.com.