Is It Time To Hide The Profile?

A couple of years ago, I broke up with the stalker-ex-boyfriend. He didn't become the stalker ex until I broke up with him. Then, he rang me off the hook until I changed my phone numbers, got drunk and broke into my house in the middle of the night because he couldn't get in touch with me since I changed my numbers (duh), and sent me a thinly veiled threat to my work email. After that, I got a restraining order.

Shortly after, I ran into someone who I hadn't seen in about 15 years, and didn't really know all that well 15 years ago. He seemed nice enough, until a few dates in, when I realized I didn't like him and didn't want to pursue any relationship. I suck at dating, and didn't want to say to the guy "I don't like you" so I played the ex-boyfriend card and said I wasn't ready to start dating. Truth be told, I probably wasn't ready to start dating. I couldn't sleep, was paranoid I was going to run into the ex, and needed a few months to decompress from the stifling feeling I had when I was with him.

Now, wouldn't you know, I got an email from this guy (not the stalker) a few months later, just "saying hi", but I didn't respond. I still didn't want to date him and thought if I responded, it would give him the idea that I did. Smart move, I think.

It's been about two years, and just a few days ago, he found me on Match.com and sent me an email. I knew if I responded, he'd take it to mean that I was interested, over the ex, and ready for a delicious coffee date. I wasn't going to reply, but thought, that's kind of bitchy. I'm not a mean person, and figured I should probably just be nice, so I sent him a response. The email I sent back was pretty flat, about 2 sentences, and at the end, I wished him luck on Match. Well, wouldn't you know, I got an email back, like, immediately, asking me out for coffee. NO! NO NO NO NO NO!!! I don't want to, I'm not interested. I'd rather spend every nigh of the week watching bad TV than sit through a coffee date with this guy, who insists on wearing combat boots year round, and once told me his ex gf shaved his back. (I replied, "Well, I'm not ever going to do that for you.") GOOD GOD. I hope he doesn't find this post. Anyway, it's not that he's a bad guy. He's a nice guy, he's just not for me.

So, I have to either ignore the email or send something back that nips it in the bud. I have no idea what to say so I'll probably just ignore it until I come up with something. If anyone actually reads this blog and has a suggestion on how to fix this little problem, leave a comment.