The question about not receiving a cell phone number and not hearing from a guy on the weekends made me think about girls who don’t get asked out for Prime Date Nights (PDN).

Meeting for a drink after work, or for lunch in the middle of the workday or for coffee on a Sunday afternoon is first date protocol nowadays. People don’t want to make a huge time commitment before they’re sure the other person is worth it.

Second dates can go either way. Ideally, Friday or Saturday night would be nice, but sometimes sooner rather than later is better and that may mean Thursday night, or Monday lunch or Wednesday Happy Hour. Try to feel out each other’s schedules before taking the time of the date too personal. If he mentioned he was going out of town or she mentioned she had a work conference, then accept the date you’re asked out on for the time being.

By the time the third date rolls around, if he’s still asking you out for the weekday or she’s still insisting on a weekend afternoon, then there’s definitely some commitment-phobia (or other sketchiness) going on. By the third date, PDN — that means a nice dinner out on Friday or Saturday nights — should apply.

PDN is often seen as a night people who are in relationships (i.e. those that are past the dating stage and are in the boyfriend/girlfriend stage) go out. It’s seen as a “serious” date night, automatically upping the ante from casually-getting-to-know-you to on-the-way-to-“commitmentville.” But if a girl is worthy enough of your time to continue going out with and getting to know than why not give her the respect of asking her out for a PDN?

By the third date it simply doesn’t make sense not to and there’s no longer any valid excuse. So, my advice is to casually mention that you have a busy week ahead of you and that you’re free Saturday night. If he doesn’t get the hint, then the blunt truth of the matter is that he probably is dating other people and has already given the PDN slot to someone else. That’s a tough fact to swallow, but it’s the current reality of dating and you should be filling your dance card, too. And if you still wants to date a guy after that, proceed with caution.