Saturday, June 14, 2008

When should you pay for a woman?

***DATING QUESTION FROM A READER***


I have a question concerning dating and when/when not to pay for stuff. At what point (if any)should I pay for both of us when dating? I don't want to get the woman into the mindset of"courtship." What should a man pay for when he's dating?

Sincerely,
M.


>>>MY COMMENTS:


This is a common dilemma that most men face...

"To pay or not to pay, that is the question."

Here are some of the problems that "paying"creates:

1. It sets you up as the one who is "pursuing" the woman, which symbolically gives away your power to her.

2. It can be expensive.

3. It usually causes women to play even "harder to get".

4. It triggers all kinds of "courtship" behaviors. Like her making you prove yourself, waiting to have sex, etc.

5. The places you'll be going to "pay" are often not the best places to actually get to know another human being. Movies, fancy dinners, etc., aren't natural environments and they don't lead to people "being themselves".

So, what's the alternative?

Well, the FIRST thing you should do is CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT "DATING"... and "paying".

Most guys just naturally assume that if they're"taking a girl out" that they need to take her to a show or movie, a nice dinner, etc.

And by the way, this is actually part of a much BIGGER issue... that most guys feel OBLIGATED to give things to women, buy them things... and basically PAY for their attention and affection.

Of course, these are basically the WORST places to go with a woman in the beginning because, as I mentioned above, they aren't very "natural" places to be.

Instead of asking a woman "out to dinner", try this...

When you're talking on the phone about getting together say, "Let's meet for a cup of tea. This way, if YOU turn out to be a complete freak, I can run away easily."

This will get a laugh, and it will get her thinking to herself, "Wow, this guy is qualifying ME."

Also, suggest a place that's close to your house, in case you want to invite her over afterward.

When you meet for tea, actually drink tea (or iced tea). Because coffee makes your breath nasty and tea is perceived as a more "classy" drink. It's also cheaper than a latte or a mocha.

After you have tea for 30 or 60 minutes, decide how YOU like HER. If you want to continue say either:

"Hey, let's keep talking. I want to shop for abit, come along."
...or...
"Hey, let's keep talking. Where are you parked? You can follow me..." (to your place, of course).

In either case, just assume that she will go along with whatever you're doing, and she almost always will if you're doing a good job of being cocky & funny and keeping her attention.

If you do go out "shopping", go to a funky alternative shopping complex that has tattoo shops, record stores, ethnic food restaurants, etc. Every shopping complex usually has an area like this, so go there.

These places are SO GREAT because they have fun and interesting conversation BUILT RIGHT IN.

If things are going well, and you're enjoying the time with her, you can then have her follow you over to your place. Again, just tell her that you're enjoying the conversation, and that you'd like to continue... and for her to follow you.

Total expense (if you pay for her tea and yours):

A few bucks.

How much better is this than taking her out to an expensive meal and trying to have a normal conversation across a table while being forced to look right at each other all night?

You do the math.

If you actually do a little creative thinking, you can figure out ALL KINDS of great things to do that cost little or no money at all when you go out with women.

Extra bonus:

When you don't do "normal" dating things, women will tend to play "hard to get" less.

They'll expect less in the way of gifts and money spent on them and they'll actually HAVE MORE FUN.

Really.

No comments: