How to Handle Being Stood Up on a Date

Double check. If it's only five or ten minutes past your meeting time, your date may be just running late. Wait for another ten minutes and then text or call them. Let them know where you are and how much longer you are going to wait. Maybe they just got the time wrong or are waiting for you in the wrong place. If you get no answer, you have been indeed stood up.

Try not to be embarrassed. Being stood up is embarrassing, humiliating, mortifying... there are plenty of synonyms. But you must remember that is not your fault. You have done nothing wrong. It is your date who can't be a decent person and inform you about the change of plans. So don't wallow in self-pity and hold your head high.

Don't get angry. Getting angry with the person who have stood you up is a natural reaction, but anger is a destructive emotion. Don't send them rude messages or leave angry voicemails. If you need to release your anger, vent to your best friend.

Have fun. You've already dressed up and ready to have a night out, so why not make use of it? You can call your friends and hang out with them or go to a bar/club alone and meet new people. Have you ever heard the proverb “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”? Well, this is exactly the case.

Don't get wasted. Drowning your sorrows in alcohol is never a good option. You don't want to embarrass yourself and do things you are going regret about later, do you? Have a beer or a cocktail and rant about your failed date to a sympathetic barmen, but don't drink yourself to oblivion.

Don't give up on dating. When you get stood up, it doesn't mean you're unworthy. It means you've met the wrong person. There are plenty more fish in the see, but you will never meet anyone if you don't put yourself out there. Being stood up is an unpleasant, but essential part of dating. No pains, no gains. You need to not dwell on it too much and move on.

Think twice before giving them another chance. Of course, there are different circumstances. Maybe they couldn't make it for a valid reason, but they still should have called or texted you. If they contact you and want to apologize, be polite and listen to their apologies and explanations. But think twice before going on another date with them.