Question

Cheers Adrian, I just drop in from time to time these days- got a bit busy – nice to see you and a lot of the regulars still going.

Dawn’s careful approach may be sensible, but there’s nothing more bugging than a "what if?"

exactly.... why the **** bother waiting a few months to ask her especially if she's going to college?

a mate of mine spent the year at U of NC last year and if it's a yardstick for yank college campuses en masse come autumn she'll either: by hitched up with someone else or so riddled you won't want to go near her without a hazmat suit on.

you're putting way too much thought into this. one of the best part's of "dating" is all the shit that goes with it, good and bad. ive wound up in handcuffs, coming close to getting a beating from various boyfriends, ex boyfriends, friends and family members and been ****ed around / had my heart "broken" because of girls but the benefits that come with jumping in and rolling with the drama that will ultimately ensue anyways ALWAYS outweighs the benefits of sitting back and sussing out a precise game plan that will go to shit as soon as you try and implement it anyways.

one of my best friends is 23 and just got his 1st ever girlfriend a few months back (through me i might add ) because he'd never get up and dance in a club and was "too gentlemanly" to chat someone up or try and pul, OVER ANALYSED GIRLS HE LIKED and now, god bless him, he doesn't have a clue how a relationship works because he's just learning when me and the rest of my friends have been round the block. basically he's 5-7 years behind the dating and relationship game than all of us. you want to get as much experience and fun in as possible because:

1. we're not young forever and the timeframe for getting away with acting like a degenerate is fairly small so you want to get your fill while you can.

2. she won't be the one, i can nigh on gaurantee this. she might not even go out with you. irregardless it's practice at either: A: getting knocked back by a girl and realising that it's not the end of the world (ergo your "will i won't i ask person X out" complex will disappear) or B: get experience of having a girlfriend and being in a relationship which comes in handy for when it ultimately hits the fan and you move on to the next "one"

**** it if i was in your shoes i'd ask her out just so i could keep you guys and my friends entertained with whatever drama came out of it

I'm not going to quote your whole post Jim - I'll just say that I agree with it completely. It's all part of life - the good part and the bad part. You take your chances and you take your lumps. But really in the end - it's all part of the fun.

You don't want to be my age - and look back and regret NOT doing something. I don't regret a single thing I ever did - and god knows I made some whopper mistakes. But it's the things you DIDN"T do that will bug you.

Go live a little If you screw up - so much the better. You will have learned a lesson about what not to do in the future.

Kathleen