I'd rather be the crazy single cat lady, than to put up with nonsense. First, if a man won't even wait in the movie lobby for me to arrive, but just walks on inside the theatre, the date is over right then and there. There are way too many men out there, and I'm not that needy. Fortunately, I've had very few bad dates, so I really don't understand what would make a woman stick around, when she's obviously being disrespected.

One bad "not a date" experience I had - met a guy who seemed nice. He begged me for my number, so I gave it to him. Didn't call until a month later, I had no idea who he was by that time, so I told that I expected to hear from him much sooner than that. His response? "I'm calling you now." I hung up the phone. Again, no time for nonsense.

Why texting when dating. Most texts are unnecessary and distracting when you are driving. Just make up a time to meet somewhere and then go there on time. If you are caught in traffic and find him/her going, call the following day to explain. Maybe you two will have a little conflict but isn't it more fun than a perfectly orchestred (right spelling?) dating?

Back when I was a divorced mother of three, I met a guy at a friends house. We played cards til midnight that night. He called me the next day and asked me to go to dinner with him. So, I made the effort to get on a dress, pantyhose that cost me a couple of dinner's worth of groceries, and do my hair.

He picked me up in his step-father's car, and apologized for being late by saying his "dickhead stepfather wouldn't loan him the car until his mother said it was OK". I should have stayed home. That was strike one.

Strike two, he had to "stop by a friends house on the way" which I felt like was a session of showing off a trophy (Me).

We went to downtown Atlanta and as soon as we got off the interstate and onto Peachtree Street, he made racial slurs about the people on the street, strike three.

And dinner, for which I had dressed up, was at the Varsity drive in restaurant. yeah, I like hotdogs and onion rings as much as anyone else, but I was a grown-up, expecting dinner in a real restaurant. He ordered two hamburgers, a chili-dog, an order of fries, and an order of rings, and ate ALL of it before I could eat a small cheeseburger. I would not have been surprised if he had scratched and farted sitting right there.

As soon as we got back to my house, I jumped out of the car and ran into the house. I told him, sorry, but I don't think this will work.

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This is a great sentence. I love it. I don't think I have ever said this to anyone. I always try to find "gentler" ways to let people off the hook. My dating days are over, but this can be useful in so many life situations - the horrible job interview when you realize midway that the person interviewing you is an idiot and you don't want that job anyway; the new friend whom you thought you really, really liked but then it gradually turns out that you have absolutely nothing in common.

"Sorry, but I don't think this will work". Wow. I'll start practicing saying that.

Vered DeLeeuw
www.momgrind.com

I contemplated not commenting, because I'm not exactly proud of that horrible date story, but I figured I'd say hey and thanks for including me in your post!

Oh, and yes, I totally acknowledge I was an idiot for hooking up with him, but I disagree with whatzerkitty about the date being over from the beginning. I know it's still the polite thing to meet someone in the lobby but if I was nervous I might do it.