night out with male neighbour

LegacyUser

I'm a female mid-30's and my neighbour is in his 50's i'd say. we got on well. we have a few neighbourly chats a week, the usual stuff. I moved into my apartment just before xmas.

anyway i'm new to the town and he goes for drinks in the local every w-end and he said ages ago that i should join him. he meets his buddies in there. i never got around to it but he mentioned it to me today and i said yes but i'm not so sure. i'm hoping that he's isn't thinking of it meaning anything. hes years older than me but i'm living alone so he knows i'm single. hes never said anything to suggest anything improper towards me but i'm just wondering how it would be perceived by people? I don't really care what people think generally but would it look weird?

I'm out of work and only see my friends every couple of weeks so it'd be great to get out tbh.

leggo

Let's be honest here, 95% of the time these things usually do turn out to have some kind of aspirations of love, lust and/or romance involved. We always hear these stories and they always seem to end in the guy trying to go for the kiss or hold hands on the way home or sending overly-friendly texts after the fact.

And there's nothing wrong with that...it's what people do...he could be lonely himself and have taken your friendly chats up the wrong way. Happens.

So why not drop the hint that you don't see him that way and see if it changes the invitation? One of the great things about being Irish is that we can do these things jokingly and dismiss it all as 'having the banter'. The next time he asks, you can simply say "I hope you're not asking me on a date," and follow it with a hearty laugh and see how he reacts.

If he says "Not at all" or the like, then you can have your cake and eat it. If he seems disheartened or rejected, then it's a good opportunity to let him down easily by doing the whole "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! To be honest I'm not looking for anything at the moment, life is hectic as it is, but a friendly pint would be lovely!" If he gets stroppy then you've exposed his friendliness for something more sinister instead of prolonging the inevitable.

It's win-win really. Give it a go and see what happens. There are plenty of other ways to meet new people and let the hair down if this doesn't work.

Choc Affair

id go for it, get out and enjoy yourself!!! he meets with his buddies so if you are not enjoying it.. leave cause he wont be on his own!!:D