Dating, for most of us is a mainly happy, pleasurable experience . Meeting new friends, finding affection, with shared interests and compatibility is what it’s all about .



However, for some of us , after perhaps a good start, things go badly wrong, and the difficult part comes when trying to break off a relationship that is not working. If the other person doesn’t want to call it a day and you don’t wish to inflict too much hurt, here are a few tactics you may like to consider .

Before trying them out , be aware that, depending on the dumpee’s personality , you might meet some problems along the way! In the examples below, for easy reading , I’ve used ’him’ but it is just as likely to be ’her’.

1. Listen to his jokes and laugh heartily , but always in the inappropriate place, just before the ending, if possible. If he is telling a joke to a few people, interrupt and supply the punch line (preferably incorrectly) before he can announce it himself. Profusely apologise if he complains, but carry right on and do it again and again.

2. If he thinks punctuality is important, always be late. Not just slightly, but terribly late, enough to spoil any date. Don’t make excuses or apologise, act as if this is perfectly normal behaviour.

3. If he invites you to a party given by his boss, try not to look your best . It’s hard not to make yourself as attractive as possible, but remember he is showing you off to his employer and colleagues and you don’t wish to make him feel proud of you. Doyour best (subtly) to look your worst. Try to make a horrible impression.

4. When you go to a film or concert wait until well after it has started . You then feel that you really, really need to go to the bathroom and disturb the whole row making your way out (and then back in, of course). You will hate causing a nuisance to the other patrons , but you should bear in mind, it is all in a good cause - your freedom. After the show, when asked if you enjoyed it , of course it was much better the first time you saw it. Repeat this performance every time you go to a show. .

5. If he telephones, interrupt the call frequently, putting out the cat, turning on the oven, answering the doorbell, anything at all to make the call unsatisfactory. .

6. Try to think of any of your personal habits that seem to irritate him particularly - and if you haven’t any, start cultivating some . nail biting, sniffing, scratching, humming, yawning loudly interrupting - I’m sure you can think up a few. Be careful, though, that they don’t backfire, and really become a habit!

7. If he has a different haircut or wears something quite different from the usual, don’t even notice it. If it’s mentioned, seemunimpressed.

8. If you go out to dinner, (that is, if you arrive in time!) be unsureof what you would like. Dither , alter your choice and eventually when you’ve finished the meal , say that you would really have liked a different dish, but you didn’t like to make a a big thing of it.

9. Talk to him a great deal and as boringly as possible about feminine matters (or if a man, about men’s interests). You may bore yourself to tears, but imagine how it is affecting him!

10. Is watching television together something you do? appropriate the remote control and change channels often and at specially dramatic