The 3 Day Rule

Ok, this one is embarrassingly long overdue, and frankly, I should be ashamed that it's taken me this long to think about it. Though, I have to admit, I didn't come to it all on my own, I have to thank the two idiots beside me on the bus today for my inspiration. You see, they were talking about ‘The 3 Day Rule’ - I know right, you thought that ended along with high school, so did I, but apparently it lives on. Its bad enough that this nonsense is still considered an important part of Dating 101 in 2009, but worse yet is that these guys weren’t 17, but rather 27 (or close to that). Now, I don't know who came up with this theory in the first place, but it must have been someone very important to have been able to convince an entire species to live by it (as in men). And for what? So that you don't look desperate? Uh, news flash: desperation is having to strategize with your best guy friend about how long you should put off calling the awesome girl you met last night so as to come across 'cool' (which clearly you aren’t) as opposed to desperate.

Seriously, unless your plan is to make her hate you, don’t pull this kind of crap. The last thing you want to do when you’ve really connected with a girl is to give her enough time to forget you, or worse, think you have something better to do. When you wait three days, it gives her time to draw to her own conclusions, and that’s NOT a good thing. Whether or not you’re actually a jerk, or too busy for her, or that the connection was one-sided doesn’t matter, the message your sending her is that you’re not interested. So if you really like her, I mean really, call her the next day, especially if you know that the connection was real for both of you. You don’t have to set up a date right away, and you don’t even need talk for that long either. Just show her that you do remember her, you are thinking about her, and that you actually can hold a conversation when sober. After that, sit back and let her make the next move. (Also, leaving us to sit and stare at our phone for 72 excruciating hours - trying to send telepathic messages to some computer chip inside in hope of forcing a ring - is not only exhausting, but just plain mean.)

Moral of the story: Be the man that you are and make the damn call, because this rule in inapplicable to those over 15.