3 Signs Your Date is Lying

After combing through countless of online dating profiles, you make a bold move and respond to someone you're interested in. You begin with a small "flirt-ship" through witty banter and sexy innuendos when your dating senses go off--in a positive way--as he/she asks for a first date. All the normal questions come to mind, "What do I say? What do I wear? Where should we go?" But the day of the big date, you get a call with them regretfully saying "Something came up" and they won't be able to make it. You understand, you know life never goes as planned and you're adult enough to play it smooth; so you reschedule.

A week later, the butterflies return and date number 2, which is really date number 1 is in the works, when you get a text, "Please forgive me, but my dog just had a heart attack and I'm on my way to the vet." You're left standing there in a puddle of confusion. You want to be sympathetic for old Yeller, but is this just another excuse? You felt the magic between you two, you know you didn't imagine the sparks, but yet, another canceled date? Should you move on or give them another shot? Before you make up your mind, consider the 3 signs your date is lying to you.

1. The excuses are outlandish. As a dating/relationship blogger I get all sorts of e-mails asking for advice when it comes to detecting a lying date. And I say the number one clue are the excuses. Yes, dogs get sick, cousins stuck by lightening, and your gay best friend thinks he's being stalked, so you have to rush over and protect him, but all in the same week? One person confided that a date canceled on him three times in one week with the last excuse being that they were working late, yet they ended up seeing one another at the corner drug store while the party who canceled was buying condoms and was out of their work uniform. People who are constantly canceling dates either have too much drama going on in their lives or are genuinely not interested in making an in-person connection--chalk it up to bad timing, and it has nothing to do with you.

2. Seems intensely interested in meeting. But you're saying, "Nando, they're the ones insisting on meeting, so they must be interested, right?" Wrong, this is 2010, and when it comes to dating, we tend to have a "buyer's market" mentality which means, "I can just find another person tomorrow or in a few hours, just as good or even better than you." Pretend you're in the market for a new TV and a major retail store has them on sale, the perfect, the one that you want and so you walk into to make the purchase, but on the way over, you spot a big flashy sign with the words, "TVs 50% Off". Guess what, you're in the market for a TV and this place has them on sale, so your loyalty is out the window.

Unfortunately, people have transferred this ideology into the dating realm. If I set up a date with you on Friday, but I meet someone else on Tuesday, I might need that Friday slot open for them instead, so I cancel with you. Is that type of behavior fair or right? That part doesn't matter, what does matter is, "What are you going to do about it?" When a person is highly concentrated on meeting up with you from the second you touch base and it seems all they're doing is gearing the conversation into meeting up, then they cancel on you--something isn't adding up.

3. You see them actively on all the dating sites. So remember your date that was on their way to the vet with their dog? How is it possible that you log into the dating site and see that their last log in was 20 minutes ago? Maybe it was remote log in--we all have smart phones now--but doesn't the idea of Rover dying take precedence over checking to see who's "winked" at you in the last hour? If your date cancels on you, yet, they are still roaming the dating sites, it's pretty clear that their intentions are different that yours. Yes, they could be a multiple-dater, someone who dates several people in a small amount of time, there's nothing wrong with that--but I do think it's bad dating etiquette to log in on the same day that you've canceled.

The next time you've been canceled on, keep those three situations at hand. And ultimately, do what feels right for you, even if that means telling them, "Oh no, give me the address of the vet and I'll meet you there." That might get Fito into a speedy recovery or you just might end up meeting a sweet person who truly adores their pet.