[DerekB]

Some of you have asked if I think I’m “supposed to have lost my virginity by now”. My reply is I believe society expects me to have lost my virginity by now. Having said that, personally, I’d be thrilled just having an intimate relationship with a woman period, even without sex. But it is something I absolutely, 100% genuinely want. I'm the type of guy that would have valued this type of relationship immensely even if I'd always had one (think flowers sent just because its Tuesday and that sort of thing). I feel like I’m incomplete, like I’ve been robbed of a piece of me that was supposed to be there but isn’t. I suppose empty is the best word, I feel empty. Like I said earlier, the only reason I get out of bed in the morning is the hope that I find a better reason.

It bothers me to no end that practically everybody takes this wonderful thing that they have for granted. When I hear people complain about relationship problems, and especially when they’re complaining to me, I want to punch them right in the face. I imagine I feel much the same way a wheelchair bound person would if somebody came up to them and complained how sore their legs were after their morning run.

Rejections to me are not steppingstones on the path to success; they are brick walls that I inevitably hit every single time I set out on that path. The only times I’ve tried have ended in disaster. There is nothing to gain from being laughed at and humiliated, and I just cannot deal with that again. I am at the point where I would never ask a girl out unless I know absolutely and beyond a shadow of a doubt that she likes me and would say yes. Since there is essentially no way to know this, my prospects look rather grim.