Smitten

3 Times It's Totally OK to Turn Down a Date

When you're single and blue about it, it's easy to convince yourself that you should take every dating opportunity that comes your way. But I believe there are plenty of good reasons to turn down a date—even when you'd do anything for a night out with the opposite sex. Here are just a few. 1. When the date is with a coworker, family friend, best friend's ex—basically, anyone with whom things could get awkward, stat. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule: Like anything, if you weigh the pros and cons only to find going on the date comes out on top, then by all means, have dinner with Ed from accounting. But if you're not totally gaga over the idea of dating your friend's ex—even though he's made known he's into you—it's OK to give in to the voice that's whispering "tonight isn't worth the risk of it getting really weird tomorrow." 2. When the guy makes you uncomfortable in any way. True story: A successful musician once put some serious moves on me. He was gorgeous, smooth, and smart. So when I turned down his offer to take me out on a date, my friends thought I was bonkers—but I

When you're single and blue about it, it's easy to convince yourself that you should take every dating opportunity that comes your way. But I believe there are plenty of good reasons to turn down a date—even when you'd do anything for a night out with the opposite sex. Here are just a few.

No matter how angry you get, there's no excuse to say something deliberately hurtful to someone. If he turns against you during fights and gets nasty (instead of trying to hear you out and calmly discuss things), it's a bad sign for your communication as a couple.

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1. When the date is with a coworker, family friend, best friend's ex—basically, anyone with whom things could get awkward, stat. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule: Like anything, if you weigh the pros and cons only to find going on the date comes out on top, then by all means, have dinner with Ed from accounting. But if you're not totally gaga over the idea of dating your friend's ex—even though he's made known he's into you—it's OK to give in to the voice that's whispering "tonight isn't worth the risk of it getting really weird tomorrow."

2. When the guy makes you uncomfortable in any way. True story: A successful musician once put some serious moves on me. He was gorgeous, smooth, and smart. So when I turned down his offer to take me out on a date, my friends thought I was bonkers—but I knew I'd made the right call. Why? He'd been too touchy-feely for my taste during casual conversation. If a guy makes you squirm in any way, you have every right to say "goodbye" and wait for someone who makes your heart race in all the right ways.

3. When you'd only say yes to appease someone else—the friend who's dying to set you up, or the mother who moans and groans you're still not married, for example. Yes, it can be tempting to take someone out just to get the monkey, er, person, off your back who's making your single life feel like hell. And if the man or woman they have in mind also makes you swoon, then by all means, RSVP yes to the setup. But if the date feels forced, agreed to only to make some someone else happy, you've got my permission to pass.

Can you think of any other good reasons to turn down a date, even when you're sick of being single? Or, have you ever turned down a date for one of these reasons or another? Oh, and PS: Is it really any wonder the ladies in this video turned down the chance to date these dudes?!