There is definitely a lot of irrational thought that goes into this but

A part of why I have never been interested in going out for random dates is because I would always be thinking this person in front of me could be a pedophile or anything shitty really, and I am here supporting a facade where they get to appear as normal.

So I have always wanted to be friends first and explore their flaws and analyze them from that standing before ever getting involved romantically.

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Ontheroad · M

Meeting anyone for the first time can be uncomfortable, so long ago I adopted the attitude of not thinking of it being a test to see if we were romantically/sexually compatible... sort of taking the whole sexual thing off the table. No expectations meant no disappointment and no nervousness.

I went on dates with new women with the one purpose in mind. To have a fun, enjoyable evening. Totally took the pressure off me and the result was that I had many, many fun dates, a few not so fun, and one where a young lady pulled out a checklist to see if I was compatible with her... yep, an actual written checklist!

It took a moment to find "her", but I had lots of stress free enjoyable evenings along the way.