Tips on how to rebuff unwanted advances

[Jennib]

There have and will be times in our lives when we will receive unwanted advances from someone. It could be from a stranger, someone you work with or a friend. As life goes, the less attention we give someone, the more persistant they become. How does one handle such a delicate situation? Here are a few tips that might be helpful.

- NEVER date the person out of sympathy. Treat them as you would want to be treated
- NEVER make fun of that person. Who knows, you might be in the same position one
day.
- NEVER give false hope to your admirer.
- NEVER let someone down over the phone, sms or email. Be mature about it and
tell the person face to face that you don't feel the same way. Remember point no. 1.
- If the person is still persistent and will not let up then it is best to settle the matter
with a short, sharp rebuff.

[ssamcd]

I have had that where I did not want to date someone. It is a difficult situation to be in. You want to be nice and you do not want to hurt their feelings. Also, you do not want to loose their friendship. I have found that being honest, immediately, is best. Even if the person does not talk with you right away, they will usually come around.

[Dani72]

LOL! I should be so lucky! Good tips though.

[chloetb]

It is a very difficult situation and complicated because you do not want anyone to get hurt. I think another great way of looking at the situation and assessing it is to put yourself in their shoes, or think back to a time when you pursued someone and they did not reciprocate. Then you can understand the situation better and hopefully see why you must be careful not to lead them on.

[Mystique]

I wish it was that easy :D In all seriousness, I have a few guys in the past that I was not interested in dating them. Who would have thought that being honest could get me into so much trouble! Then again, we were teenagers back then and teenage boys tend to make teenage girls' lives miserable when they do not want to date the boys. I'm glad though that as I grow older, it makes it easier for me to tell NO to a guy. We usually end up being friends because we're mature enough to handle the rejections.

I would like to add one tip - if the man or woman becomes overly persistent, it's time to get the authorities involved and I'm not kidding! From experience, my partner and I had a problem with a woman and we had to get the police involved. Some people just cannot take NO for an answer.