The early morning sun is streaming in through the window hurting your eyes, your head is banging, and your mouth is dry. And if that weren’t enough, you’re now faced with the dilemma of whether to stay where you are, or slip away discreetly and quietly. Yes, it’s the morning after the one-night stand before. What to do? Or rather, what’s the right thing to do?

You won’t find too many guides to one-night stand etiquette. That’s because there are so many variables that can occur during the experience. For starters, not everyone has the same agenda when it comes to a one-night stand. Generally they do, which is to have an enjoyable sexual experience (with another person!), but it’s rarely just about that. While we live in an age of sexual freedom and equal opportunities, one-night stands are viewed differently by the sexes (or at least most members of the sexes). Men are better at one night stands. They often aren’t looking for the same things from the encounter as women are. Furthermore, for women sex is rarely just sex…

For women, one-night stands can be broken down into three categories: Category A – the one-night stand a woman most definitely wants to see again; Category B – the one-night stand a woman doesn’t particularly want to see again but would like him to want to see her again; and Category C – the one-night stand a woman most definitely doesn’t want to see again (and is completely indifferent to his feelings). For men, however, it’s generally just the one category: the one-night stand he doesn’t particularly want to see again unless he wants to have sex and there’s no one new on the scene. (Not all men have this attitude to one-night stands, granted, but the large majority of them seem to.)

So where a woman’s concerned, the way she conducts herself will depend on which category one-night stand she’s with. For example, if she’s having a one-night stand with a Category-A guy, then she might not be in too much of a hurry to leave the following morning. She might also want to make a good impression so as to increase her chances of being offered not only a repeat performance, but perhaps a date. And this is where you might think that things could get a little blurred, but not so. Because in order for a woman to procure an invitation from her Category-A guy, she should act in very much the same way she would if she were with a Category-C guy: leave early, say little, and keep your fingers crossed (with the Cat.-A guy she’s keeping her fingers crossed that he’ll call; with the Cat.-C guy she’s keeping her fingers crossed that he hasn’t been in her purse while she’s been asleep and noted down all her personal contact details!).

However, sometimes when a woman’s with a Category-A guy she can get a little tempted to abandon this piece of etiquette. Say, for example, he offers to make her breakfast. She thinks about what awaits her once she’s out the door: a long walk to the nearest bus/train stop wearing last night’s clothes, which means that everyone she passes en-route will know exactly what she’s been doing and from where she’s just come. And if it’s a Sunday – and Sunday is invariably the day after the one-night stand before – she could be faced with an empty day, the only highlight of which will be reliving the good moments of last night. So not only will the offer of breakfast from her Category-A guy be difficult to resist when faced with little else to do, but she’ll also tell herself that it must be a “good sign.” But, unfortunately, that’s not necessarily the case; he might be also be faced with a less than eventful Sunday and just want someone (anyone) around to relieve the impending boredom. Unless there’s a strong possibility that things are going to go beyond the one-night stand, or the day after it, it’s probably best for a woman to put a little space and time between the two of them and head off home. Look at it as ending the night, and morning, on a high note.

Most one-night stands are best dealt with in this way. It’s always difficult to know what the other’s thinking about the situation and about you. So unless you know, pretty much for certain, that the other party wants to see you again and is not viewing the previous night’s events as a one-night stand, don’t overstay your welcome. That means that unless you’re living on the streets or in some place where there are no bathing facilities don’t ask your one-night stand if you can use his or her shower. Don’t ask for a lift to the nearest bus or train station, either (yes, it is the gentlemanly thing to offer to drive you there, but it’s perhaps a little late in the day to be expecting gentlemanly behavior!).

If the one-night stand has occurred at your place, then act like the almost-perfect host, but one who wants the night to end now. Don’t encourage your one-night stand to stay any longer than you want him or her to. If your one-night stand seems a little reluctant to be heading off, tell him or her that you have to meet your friend soon and should be getting on (he or she won’t believe you but will accept your excuse without too much fuss).

Men and women who have engaged in more than one or two one-night stands know the etiquette; it doesn’t need to be spelled out to them. It’s like a dance they both know the steps to; they’re just now performing the routine with someone new in the hope that this time the dance might just lead to something else.

The post Should I Stay or Should I Go? One-Night Stand Etiquette appeared first on GentLifestyle.