Escape Plan Not Necessary

A few days ago my office receptionist was asking me “how do you leave a date that’s going really bad?” Apparently she had been listening to the radio and the D.J.’s were discussing the same thing.

The obvious answer is to text a friend and have him/her call you back with an emergency. Or worse, climb out the bathroom window.


And then I realized, why would anyone ever put them self in that kind of situation?

Dates should be fun and spontaneous—not planned and drawn out. They should only last as long as they’re enjoyable and if the other person is lame, just end it.

How to end a date? First, don’t plan a long one. Plan something short like a trip to the mall, coffee, go to the beach, or the museum. Then if the date is going well, propose something else and be spontaneous about it.

A guy should always have a second and third location in mind. But he shouldn’t bring it up unless the date is going well. If she likes him, she’ll bounce to the next place and another and another.

For example: “I gotta get a shirt for a dinner next week, wanna come to the mall with me?” . . . “I’m getting hungry, let’s eat (somewhere not in the mall).” . . . . “I was going to check out this short film contest tonight. There going to have these pieces made by the art school and students from around the world. I heard its really good.” . . . . “My friend is DJing at the Ultra Lounge; come with me.”

Always have something planned. There’s nothing worse than a girl saying “what do you want to do?” And the guy saying “I don’t know.” Neil Strauss recommended that people read the Weekly and that was probably the best advice I’ve ever heard on what someone can do in a city. So before a “date,” read the Weekly to find out what’s going on and then if she’s cool, do stuff with her, and if she’s lame, ditch her and do stuff with someone else—and then hope you don’t see her out that night.