The Cowardly Lion as pictured in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This particular problem is not relegated to any gender, sexual orientation or age group.  Cowards  in the dating world are sadly universal.  I would bet that even prehistoric men and women scratched their heads over this dating archetype.   What is a coward?

A person who asks someone out on a date, only to then:

• Cancel last-minute
• Stand-up a date
• Constantly reschedule
• Make themselves consistently unavailable
• Claim they never made the date in the first place – Act as if it was somehow a misunderstanding

I want to emphasize the distinction here, a coward is the person who sets up the date in the first place, and then blows it off. That is a huge difference, because plenty of people might bail on a date for any number of reasons.  Life is complicated, misunderstandings are common and people really might need to cancel.  They may also not be that interested and bailing on a date is a passive aggressive way of saying as much.  However if a man or woman asks someone out on a date, the need to do everything in their power to follow through.  A coward sends the mixed signal of

I want to go out with you, only I DON’T actually want to go out with you.

I hear these stories all the time from both men and women.  It has happened to me more times than I can count, and I will admit that one gentlemen strung me along like this for months.  I didn’t quite have my post-divorce self-confidence back yet so for reasons I still don’t quite understand, I put up with it.

Over half the men that ask me out on online dating sites do this.  The scenario goes something like this:

1. They send the first email asking me to go out.
2. I respond saying I would love to go out with them.
3. Then they either cancel at the last second, blow me off completely, or never get around to actually planning anything.

I used to give these types the benefit of the doubt, but now I don’t.  If they can’t get it together for one date, they probably aren’t going to get it together for much more.   I used to think it was due to my blog, so I stopped using my name in any correspondence online.  Multiple friends of both genders have said this exact scenario plays out with them repeatedly.  Why do people do this?  I am not sure why but it might be

• Fear of Failure – They are worried they will be ultimately rejected so they avoid the date, thereby avoiding rejection.
• Fear of Success – If your date does actually go well, then they might have to deal with some type of dating situation this freaks them out, so they self-sabotage.
• Intimacy Issues – They would rather have some type of fantasy of you than actually deal with another human being.
• Seeing someone else – It is all a game to them, you are merely a pawn for their ego.
• Ego Boost – They asked a person out just to see if they would say yes, never intending to go out with them.
• Living in a Virtual Reality – A person becomes so accustomed to relationships online social networking etc, that a real one is just too much for them to handle.

Faking out dates is almost rampant behavior nowadays.   It seems completely irrational as asking a person out on a date is a bold move, and makes a person quite vulnerable.  It is such a problem with online dating, I could almost bet half the guys who end up in my inbox will never follow through with an actual date.

Actions really do speak louder than words.  If a person is not making you a priority in their life, then they are letting you know that you are not really that important to them.  Asking you out, only to then flake is rude, inconsiderate and downright baffling behavior.  If someone really wants to see you, they will move heaven and earth to make that happen.  Don’t waste your time on a coward.

Related articles

• Online Dating Faux Pas (confessionsofaphonesexoperator.wordpress.com)
• Dating Online: The Liars (julietjeskeblog.com)
• Dating Online: Mr. Online ONLY (julietjeskeblog.com)
• Dating After Divorce: Why is it so Difficult in your Late Thirties? (julietjeskeblog.com)
• Dating Online: Mr. Houdini (julietjeskeblog.com)
• Dating in NYC: Pepe Le Pew (julietjeskeblog.com)
• Dating Online: No Stranger I’m Not Meeting You for Breakfast (julietjeskeblog.com)
• Dating in NYC: The Snob (julietjeskeblog.com)

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