I asked a guy out, I guess about 2 months before I stopped dating for the foreseeable future.

He said I was really cute and he’d been watching me (duh. I knew he was interested which is why I asked him out in the first place).

We chatted a while. Conversation not great, but okay. He griped about how hard it is to ask women out. He suggested it must have taken a lot for me to get up the courage to come over. I said not really, the worst he could say was no.

He griped some more about how women never give a guy a chance. I said I’ve heard that from men a lot but I have no experience asking out women so I can’t speak to it.

He asked if I ask men out a lot and how I am received. I shrugged (what’s a lot?) and left it with I don’t have a problem asking men out and it’s a mixed bag like most everything else. Dating is hard for everyone these days.

And then he turned me down. Because, he said, it just doesn’t seem right to him.

He was really cute too. It’s just as well though, he’s clearly inflexible and resistant to adaptability. That’s not a good quality for the future.

This was at a singles mixer event. So everyone was there to find a date. He asked out 3 other women that I noticed. They were all gussied up to the nines, over done in my opinion because he was more like me -- girl/boy next door cute, not red carpet. He walked out alone.

I walked out with a coffee date. Who I also asked out. We went on two dates but aren’t dating any more. It just wasn’t going to work long term and he didn’t want to date casually. We’re still on good terms and check in with each other occasionally. He’s a nice guy so I hope he finds someone. I’m happy with where I’m at too. I’m not dating, but things are going well and my social life is actually better, more rounded.