The “call by Wednesday” rule

When guy friends tell me they got a girl’s number, and then ask when they should call her, I say “within three days.” Usually, any longer and the girl begins to expect no phone call, brands the guy a jerk, and moves on. You don’t want to call her after she’s branded you a jerk. And, really, people are quite busy. If you want to see this girl again, shouldn’t you try and work your way into her upcoming schedule? Don’t call her for the first time on Friday night expecting to go out with her that weekend.

On that vein, I’ll introduce an exception to the “within three days” rule. I call it the “call by Wednesday” rule. Let’s say you meet a girl on a Friday. Three days from that is Monday, which is pretty far from the next weekend. In that case, I think it’s okay to extend the acceptable calling period until Wednesday — close enough to the weekend to make plans, and not so far in advance as to seem overzealous. So, if you don’t want to count the days while trying to think of non-awkward ways to say “Hey, Amy, this is Tom! We met on Friday?”, just remember to call by Wednesday.

Here’s another tip: Don’t hold onto a girl’s number for a few months, call it, and then think she’s going to want to go out with you. That happened to someone I know, and she sad to me (while making a face), “He comes out of nowhere after like a year. Weird!” Yeah, do you want a cute girl to think you’re weird? Didn’t think so. If you meet a girl you want to see again, get her number and call within three days (or by Wednesday!). It’s that simple. If she gave you her number, she’s expecting you to use it.