15 Things to Say to Get Out of a Blind Date

I understand, from some of my friends who are still single, that they are continually plagued by well-meaning relatives and acquaintances whose sole mission in life is to get them "hitched". These "do-gooders" especially feel the need to "assist" unmarried women over the age of 40, believing their options for finding a decent love match are slim to none.

In their zeal, these folks take it upon themselves to set up potential dates for my friends and expect them to go out with men they haven't even seen yet. It doesn't appear to matter whether the men have anything in common with these females, only that they be upright and breathing.

Most single women who are forced into these kinds of "sight unseen" social meetings can identify trouble right at the onset, when they first get to speak to their potential lotharios on the telephone.

"I can tell a man is boring or an idiot within ten minutes of a conversation", one friend declared. However, it isn't always as easy to get out of having to meet someone that a close relative or well-intentioned pal went through the effort of setting you up with. They get really insulted, if you attempt to decline.

How can you dodge the bullet, in terms of avoiding the dreaded first date, so that nobody's feelings get hurt?

My suggestion is to accomplish this task during the very first telephone call.

Here are some remarks you can make, during the course of your 'phone exchange, that will ensure that you will neither receive a second 'phone call nor be pressed into ever going out with an individual you have no desire to meet.

1. "Can you keep a secret? The last guy I told this to tried to call "America's Most Wanted", but that's okay, because (snicker) he's no longer in the position to report anything to anybody".

2. "Yeah, just the other night when I was right in the middle of shaving my back ..."

3. "Personal hygiene is soooo 20th Century"!

4. "You sound really sensitive. Bet you wouldn't walk off just because a girl has 2 or 3 highly-visible, gigantic, pus-filled growths in the center of her forehead"!

5. "So, is this your first time dating somebody with multiple personalities"?