When the Tables Are Turned

In the embryonic stages of dating (1-4 excursions together), as women we're used to the sure-fire signs that tell us when the guy just isn't interested. I call this stage the "Phase Out"...longer elapsed time between phone calls, longer elapsed time between emails or text messages, or more "I can't make it, I already made plans." Well, during this online dating adventure, I thought I'd give the masculine Phase Out a whirl. And I haven't gotten the results I was expecting and am finding myself trying to think about how guys react in order to make my next choice.

Rewind to last October when I went out on a few dates with Patriots sweatshirt guy. (that's not even a fair nickname -- let me switch it to 38-year-old guy). He and I went out on a few enjoyable but no sparks dates in Oct. and Nov. Then I made that trip to Seattle and got all screwed up in the head and decided to enact Mission Phase Out...not returning calls, not returning txt messages, and coming up with random excuses when I did talk to him.

Fast forward to now. I think he's sent me about 3 text messages over the last few weeks like..."Hey, what's up?" and "Go Rams!"...and I've just been blowing him off. And finally today I got a total doozy..."What's going on? Do you not like me anymore?"

Seriously, HTF am I supposed to respond to that? (Now deep down ladies, we ALL know we've done something similar to this...except we're the senders, not the recipients!) If I respond, then I will have to get into all the explanations and stuff (and I don't even know what I'd say). And if I don't respond, he could just keep bugging me with the occasional text message. Perhaps I should pull a GWB and "stay the course" by just not responding.

I hate when the tables are turned.