RELATIONSHIPS January 11, 2010 Issue

AN ANSWER TO MY DATING DILEMMA

AMANDA CASWELL

I'VE BEEN AN ACTIVE MEMBER of a local comedy troupe for the past three years. We get together and write sketches and short stories, and give performances. The five of us have become good friends; everyone has a creative, unique talent that makes for a wonderful group dynamic.

Recently, one of the guys in the group asked me out to dinner. I'd always enjoyed his sense of humor and thought getting to know him outside the group would be fun, so I took him up on the offer. But after a few dates, I decided we'd be much better off as friends. He enjoyed going to bars and partying, and that wasn't something I was interested in. Also, after only the second date, he made some inappropriate advances. I came to the conclusion that I should never have gone out with him in the first place and berated myself for my decision.

Unfortunately, this guy asked me out several more times and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. He was very persistent. At that point, I was so worried about keeping the comedy troupe together that I decided to go out with him again for the sake of the group. But our dates continued to bother me. After one particularly uncomfortable evening I went home and looked online for other comedy troupes in the area. I figured I could just quietly slip out of the group and join another. But to my dismay, there were no other groups needing new members.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

SENTINEL WATCH

LET'S PRAY FOR AT-RISK CHILDREN