Welcome to the House of Fun (and positivity!) - It's dating thread 100

[IToldYouIWasFreaky]

The Rules:

1. The first rule about the dating thread is you don't talk about it with people you're dating.
2. Develop a thick skin.
3. Do not invest emotionally too soon.
4. It's all BS until it actually happens.
5. Trust your gut instinct.
6. People vanishing, lying & being generally weird is not your fault.
7. You are the prize-they should be trying to impress you.
8. If it's not fun, stop.
9. Loo update is mandatory.

10. No dating the thread. 11. Read Why Men Love Bitches (aka WMLB), and take from it what you will. 12. Don't serve up moose burgers on the first date (although this is still in debate right now) 13. Matthew Hussey also very useful. And very easy on the eye even if you don't find him any good. 14. IF THEY SAY THEY DON'T WANT A RELATIONSHIP, THEY DON'T WANT A RELATIONSHIP.

Had you chatted with him at all? People do get impatient and unmatch when they don't get a response!

Hahahaha DO NOT do it Freaky or at least send a picture of someone else's naked bod...

Twix just sent me a 'checking in' text

ocelot It must have really hurt to hear him like that. Allow yourself to feel the new sadness, the only way is through. Are your RL friends up to speed with developments? Hope they are looking after you

I'm up for the slumber party! No wine for me as have a busy day tomorrow but am eating my way through a sharing packet of Skittles if that counts?

I've also been chatting with an iron for a week or so. I'll call him Toyboy (or TB for short) as he is 9 years younger than me. We are planning to meet but I'm going on holiday for two weeks so won't be until I get back now.

I won't, I won't! (although some of them have already seen it...)

Good old Twixapoo!

I'm up for a slumber party and living vicariously through those with dates.

I have a lovely new bottle of duty free rum and the bath is calling me. I have to iron (ugh) and still haven't watched American idol. Could it get any more exciting?

Ahem. What happened to not dating the thread?

Disclaimer: I won't be much help Freaky am already half tipsy and I have half a bottle of very naice red sitting in front of me

Might go on an iron-fishing/flirting trip later on and ditch the current ones as per Gentle's sound advice

We need defective iron/dater protection legislation

When it's a choice between dating the thread and trying to hook up with old irons then dating the thread is definitely the safest option!

And I'm on a little dating break so I'm allow to get over invested in other peoples' love lives

Handy my friend is recovering from surgery for a brain tumour :(
& I really don't want to explain it all over again :(
But they are helping by laughing reminiscencing & lots of wine :)
I really don't want to think about it .... I love that man so much...

Trills backstory of that rule seems to be that once upon a time there men hanging out on here that we have apparently scared away. Hence the rule... Which luckily is now irrelevant

I thought it meant "don't get so involved chatting to the thread that you don't put any time into chatting with actual potential irons" :)

No it def means what Jolly says - there really was a guy who dated women from the thread... & it didn't end well...

I think Mr Perfume has been watching MH... He's been quieter today, but has told me he was helping a friend with a moving job, and is off to the pub tonight... Suddenly he seems a lot more attractive to me, because he seems less interested in messaging me. What's that about?!

My understanding of dating the thread came about as some women at the time got slightly to invested in the one guy who was on this thread from the start Bant
it was he that came up with the rule.

Then, Rioux another guy came along and was actively dating anyone and everyone on the thread, he left in a cloud of shit.

Obviously, the thoughts behind it were to protect everyone involved.

Hahahaha oh dear that sounds like a bad plan.

I've been having a conversation this evening with a nice-seeming new man from OKC. He has good taste in TV anyway. I've been not-answering-immediately to pretend that I'm engrossed in the things that I'm doing rather than waiting for messages all the time.

That said, around the time Rioux came along everyone on posting at that time bar a few said they were adults and if they wanted to date from the thread it was their choice. The majority at the time said the rules did not apply much as I don't like what happened I don't think he's solely too blame.

Yes I suppose its a bit like when an office romance goes wrong...
But there was an inference of someone targeting women on the thread...

Well, I was around at that time the thread became really cliquey, loads of us made posts about the rules the collective response from the majority including two other guys posting at that time was its not a good idea for anyone to date someone else on the thread.

Being a bloke (a single one) who has become fed up with the whole online dating thing, I hope I am allowed to take part.

Been reading through quite a few posts, it is very interesting to see the opinions and hopes of women, and it is also interesting that speaking only for myself, they are all but the same as mine.

Trills, I have had exactly the same as you (date cancelling), and every time it was because she had also agreed to meet someone else before agreeing to meet me, very irritating. I have also been doing the online conversation thing, I hate having to wait for a response, makes me feel she is talking to loads of other men, but maybe I am insecure!

Makes me feel she is talking to loads of other men, but maybe I am insecure!

The thing the thread always says is that you should assume that anyone you are talking to IS also talking to others. Because why wouldn't they be? But that's OK. They don't know you yet, you don't know them yet. It's sensible of them (and you) to talk to more than one person at a time at the early stages.

Fair comment. I had not seen it that way as I never do talk to more than one woman at a time.

I am a man, I cannot multi-task!

I hope you don't make tired old generalisations about what men and woman can and cannot do when you are trying to chat people up. :)

No of course not, I am making a generalisation about me, I can't handle more than one conversation at a time.

I do however think it is poor form to agree to meet someone when they have already agreed to meet someone else. I would also not initiate or encourage a conversation with anyone if I had already arranged to meet someone else.

But that's your choice phantasm.

Until there is a conversation about exclusivity then both parties are free to meet and date who they like. Just because you choose to only meet and chat with one at a time, you can't impose that same rule on others. Online dating doesn't tend to work like that I'm afraid. It not in my experience anyway!