Ok, since the other subject showed I was not alone in the serious rejection line catagory maybe we should decide what we would like to hear.
I would prefer a nice smile (not the sympathetic, pity one)and then a simple “No thank you,” followed by one of the below that applies:
“Nothing against you, I just prefer <INSERT PREFERENCE HERE>”
“It sounds nice, but I am seeing someone.”
“It was sweet/nice of you to ask, though.”
“I understand how you feel, I just really would like to stay good friends.”
Or something like that. Something that shows that she understood it wasn’t easy to risk asking her out and that she should take it as a compliment and respond to it as such. Be polite and friendly and compliment in return.
Some female friends of mine were travelling in Greece (one of them is Greek). They were staying with some family of the Greek friend, and one of the non-Greek women was asked out by a local young man. She agreed to go on a date with him. She spoke a little Greek, he spoke a little English.
They had a nice time, but at the end it was clear he was hoping for a little action, which she wasn’t interested in. However, she didn’t exactly know how to say that in Greek, but tried her best to say “let’s just be friends”. She got back and repeated her words to the Greek friend, who immediately started laughing. Apparently, what she’d actually said was:
“I don’t love you, but I like it.”
For a split second, that guy must have thought he was the luckiest guy on the planet.
Once I asked out a young woman who worked as a cashier at a department store, who I’d talked to previously when I was buying something, and who had seemed interested in me (but perhaps more about my studying in England). As a 19-year-old with almost no previous dating success, I expected rejection. I got it, but with one of the kindest rejection lines I think possible:
“No, I have a boyfriend. But I’m touched by your offer. I hope you’ll find someone soon, because you seem so friendly.”
Before I even clicked on this thread, I was asking myself "How much time elapsed after the thread was started before the ‘obligatory huge penis’ line gets posted.
Almost two hours. I’d have guessed 15 minutes–half hour, tops.
“I’m sorry but, well, you see, I’m a lesbian and…wait! Why don’t you come over…we’re having a “party” tonight and some of the other ladies might know someone who’d be interested…”
I can do with a simple “No, thank you” or “I’m not interested” and then say no more. I can take a hint. Any more excuses will just lead me to believe that there is a slim chance you will change your mind. The quicker the rejection, the happier everyone is.
How about…“Wow. I’m so flattered, really. But I couldn’t bear the disappointment in your eyes. I’d have to be a Greek goddess to deserve what you’re offering. I’m just a mere mortal…”
A rejection for me? I’d never have the nerve to ask in the first place. Chicken=Me.
Since almost every time I’ve been rejected it was some kind of lie to let me down “easy” (Which didn’t work, it just made it feel worse), I think I would rather be told the truth (ie “I like someone else”, “I don’t like you enough to go out with you”). I really get tired of that “It’s not you, it’s me” (Which means in girl-talk “It’s you”).
okay, me and my apartmentmate obsess about the movie Mystery Men. We’ve practically memorized it, and our friends have by this time too b/c we are always reciting lines and scenes from the movie.
At one point we realized that if we did not see that movie within the next 24 hours, we would probably explode. Both of us have it on tape, but the problem was it was shabbos so neither us nor a large number of our friends could watch it that night.
So at some point we realized, hey, we know this movie by heart, we don’t have to watch it, we can perform it as a two-man show for our friends.
I was, among other characters, Mr. Furious, who in that movie hits on a waitress more than a few times and gets rejected most of the time. I decided to cast this one girl we know, who I am convinced is the cutest girl I’ve ever met, in the role of the waitress just so I’d have an excuse to hit on her. She’s never seen the movie.
Well fast forward to that very scene. I tell her her line is, “I’m busy”, which in the movie is said as a pretty cold rejection. When this girl says it IRL, she says in a very suggestive tone, “I’m busy tonight baby” and then winks at me.
If only real-life rejections could get the blood flowing like that . . .
Don Pedro. Will you have me, lady? Beatrice. No, my lord, unless I might have another for working days; your grace is too costly to wear every day.
– Much Ado About Nothing, II.i. 339-42
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by struuter *
**How about…“Wow. I’m so flattered, really. But I couldn’t bear the disappointment in your eyes. I’d have to be a Greek goddess to deserve what you’re offering. I’m just a mere mortal…”
Actually, a girl recently told me she wasn’t good enough for me and there was someone else out there who was better for me. Unfortunately this approach translates as “I believe I am a better judge of what will make you happy than you are.” Women, just be honest, and don’t try to let them down easy. We can handle rejection.