The funniest instance of this was with a woman I dated for a few months. We were out with friends. I can't recall what instigated this remark, but she turned to me, and in kind of a snarky tone, said, "I might just start seeing other people." Our friends looked uncomfortable. I just shrugged at her and said, "Go for it." I have never seen someone backpedal so quickly.

A couple of months later, at the end of November, she dumped me with no explanation offered. At the end of January the next year, she called me out of the blue and was hinting about getting back together with me. She let it drop that she had been seeing a guy for a couple of months, and he turned out to be a jerk.

I'm not a math genius, but I can work that math in my head. She dumped me for someone else, and when it didn't work out, she wanted me back. Sorry, I'm nobody's fallback plan.

No patience for game players.