I read a hoary old cliché the other day: “If you don’t ask, the answer’s always ‘no’.”
And that hold true for pristine young ladies as well as for old hoars.
Has anyone ever started a ‘Should I ask her out?’ thread and the overall response was “no don’t ask her out”?
We should just make a sticky called ASK HER OUT ALREADY!
This is just passive-aggressive game playing in a cuter outfit. Do this and I GUARANTEE next week we’re gonna see a thread “Help!! I can’t find my balls with both hands! Was this a date?” And then youre going to make us dissect what her outfit meant, what her body language meant, the subtext of every comment. And then I’ll have to come in and be a bitch about it and call you a nerd and its just exhausting.
I’ve been on dates where there was no chemistry and we just laugh about it now. If you just decide to stop being an awkward spaz, then you can be friends with anyone you want.
Grow a pair [of testicles]
That’s actually a good point, thanks. If I’m not direct about it, I’m still going to be just as unsure about things as I am now or worse.
My learned friend has a good point. But wouldn’t it be funnier to conspire to give the wrong advice?
We need a sticky that says DON’T BOTHER ASKING HER OUT, SHE’LL ONLY SAY NO. AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS WILL LAUGH ABOUT YOU BEHIND YOUR BACK. AND YOU HAVE HALITOSIS.
Or maybe
“Warning: Do Not Ask. Asking her out could lead to babies, families, sex, trouble with friendships, or kissing. Avoid at all costs”
Well, as far as I know, you’ve never started one of these threads, so we haven’t needed to yet. 
Don’t go to a movie on a first date, even if it’s somebody you know well. Dinner is almost always the best option. Movies do not afford the opportunity to talk and exhibit chemistry the way talking over dinner (or even ice cream or a few drinks in a (quiet and preferably nice-looking) bar) does. On that note though, it’s pretty easy to ask people out. Also, allow her to suggest a date, it’s sort of psychological, but giving her a specific date and having her busy that day creates a much more awkward conversation whether or not she’s trying to avoid it or really just busy. Once she agrees to the idea of the date, ask her when she’s free to avoid confusion.
He was busy. Sausages dont just slip themselves you know.
Last April one of my WoW guildies made a remark about “the social part of our guild’s forums”. Gee, turns out we had a social part in the forums! Never knew about it (neither did half the guild, d’oh).
In July we had a guildmeet in England, one weekend. I spent several days after that staying with one of the guildies, a guy a bit older than me, single and with whom I’ve done more than my share of online flirting (specially once we found out that we were both “legal” and eligible). There was much joking about this, specially from the younger guildies 
After coming back, things online had been quite awkward… which suuuucked 
But now my current job is over. And I’m in enough demand to be able to get the next job in England, if I get stubborn enough about it… so after much fretting, I wrote to him asking whether he’d be interested in a “second date.” Let me tell you, whomever came up with that image of butterflies in your stomach must have eaten very light… in my case it felt more like sharks swimming about.
He said yes 
We’re meeting again in Spain in November and gee, all of a sudden the conversations have picked up once more. does the wave, the mashed potato and the chicken dance
I like movies for a first date if it’s not “dinner and a movie” but “a movie and dinner” - you can always spend dinner dissecting the movie.
BURN!
Oh wait that was to me.
I’m a little concerned that the OP can’t tell if/which one of them is interested in him (sorry, but I’ve noticed it’s almost always the girls who do the ‘choosing’ e.g. ‘I get the big guy, you take the ugly one’). Has their been any giggling and whispering in his presence? Has one of the girls hinted that another girl likes him (often as a cover for liking him herself)? And has his single status never come up while with them (‘Oh Dunawake, how can you not have a girlfriend?’)? Isn’t this what friends talk about?
Hope they’re not all great friends, because this may not end well. Either he’ll get shot down and the rest will feel awkward around him, like he’s only been pretending to like them so he can get in their pants, or he’ll hit it off and there will be some jealousy issues and drama from the other girlfriends. Or everything will go great and he’ll get married and live happily ever after. Whichever.
There is no try. Do or do not be funny. (But seems like you’ve mastered jedi levels of cuteness. Maybe you should turn yourself into a lolcat now. :))
In regards to the first question, these girls aren’t the giggling and whispering type. Well…at least not in my presence. That’s part of the reason why I posed the last question in the OP, because I’m not sure whether occasional physical contact and a tendency to smile at me is anything other than “normal”. As in, I’m reading way too much into her actions. My singleness has never come up as a topic of conversation actually, and I’m loath to talk about my lack of relationships because I feel it just comes off as pathetic.
The second thing you mention is exactly what I am worried about, because I honestly do like being “just friends” with all of them and don’t want to jeopardize that if I can help it.
I’m gonna say it one more time. Stop thinking and ask. I’ve made the mistake you’re making, and believe me, it won’t be fun to be in the friend zone, but with a “too bad he’s too pathetic to ask me out” asterisk beside your name.
I haven’t seen her since I started the thread, but trust me, I’m mentally prepping myself for the next time we’re together. I could ask her out by email, but that doesn’t seem very suave.
You are learning, Grasshopper.
If you have any respect for the woman at all, don’t be vague. We hate games and wondering and all that BS as much as you guys do. Just let it be known that if she’s not into you, you won’t hold it against her, you can still be friends, and that you’ll move on with your romantic life. I think the reason many friendships end this way is because the rejector thinks the rejectee is angry at her. (Whether it’s true or not.)
Thanks, I’m planning on being as direct as possible, and I’ll try and make it clear that I won’t be upset if she’s not interested.