My take on flakes:
- Life happens. S*hit comes up for everyone. Aging parents (if you're over 40), pets, kids, jobs, friends, your health, transportation, and on and on. Surprised the attitude on SS is EVERY flake is BS. This is just not true. Some and many are for legit reasons. That said...
- With 95% confidence you'll know if a flake is legit by if she offers a counter date or not. If she offers a counter, it's likely legit. No counter, it's likely a pre-meditated flake or there's a 1-2% chance she really is that f*ucking clueless and just doesn't know as a woman she should offer up a counter to hold the man's interest.
- For me, for a woman I just started dating, a flake with no counter offer garners a NO REPLY from me. With age, wisdom, and experience, you just learn to exude an IDGAF (about women, not life, as some here have confused) attitude--for real, not faked. So frankly, I could honestly care less if she flakes or not. I have things to do anyway.
- I do confirm dates because I'm a very busy man and don't like wasting my time. But I do it playfully. For example, maybe we're on for 8 PM on a Friday, so around 3 PM if I don't hear from her first, I'll send a quick text something like, "Looking forward to our oyster eating and tequila shooting contest at 8 tonight. Ciao, Dash." No reply, I don't show up. Say this 1000 times: "Responsible adults confirm and keep dates."
- You can lower but never 100% ELIMINATE the chance for flaking. Screen well and know the chances are much higher for women you meet online. That's just life, Sporto.
Good luck.
~Dash~