current dating position: sweeper

I haven't played the field in a loooooong time. There was that summer between the sophomore and junior years of high school where I dated six guys at once, and they all knew about it. I think I've relayed this story before, but at the end of that summer, one embittered and culled beau asked a friend of mine, "Who won the {WP} lottery?" Ah well. The game of love tends to bring out the poor losers in all of us.

Online dating has brought greater attention to the use of multi-dating. Prior to all these damnable dating sites, it was much easier to be discreet about dating several people at once. Now, it is much simpler to keep track of one's beaux and their level of interest as you need only go online and see how recently they've checked their dating profiles. And vice versa.

There are some people out there (I'm not naming names) who need to keep better track of their dates. The incomparable Nunzio (I so need to go see his show - he's in Assassins at Signature Theatre right now and is getting rave reviews) once teased me that he maintained a spreadsheet of the women he dated and kept track of what was done/said so he wouldn't make any errors in conversation. In retrospect, he wasn't teasing me and was demonstrating serious genius. Well, maybe not so much by sharing that bit of intelligence with me (as it can backfire), but definite organizational genius.

The spreadsheet approach does allow one to keep track of what one has done with different dates. Here's a mini case-study:
Me - Yes, I've been wanting to see that movie.
Guy - Didn't we see that together?
Me - Nope. Must have been some other girl.
Guy - Oops.

A spreadsheet might have helped this lad avoid making this sort of error.

Also, I don't recommend pointing out all the women/men that one has asked out while on a date, or mentioning the profiles of women/men who have recently responded to one's profile. I think it is safe to assume that you have already been found attractive enough for a person to accept a date (or multiple dates), and to point out what a Super Dater you are is akin to braggadocio. Subtlety, my dear readers, is far more effective.

I do think sharing dating foibles can serve as a nice icebreaker - but don't belabor the issue. Too many dating foibles = undateable.

To recap: take appropriate precautions; prepare by doing proper research; try to remember who you're playing; stay hydrated; and if you must play the field, be good sports about it.