So your meeting a woman on a first date.

[Curt]

So your meeting a woman on a first date. You have never meant them before in person. Lets say you were matched online and traded a few messages before meeting for this first date.

Your meeting at a reastruant / coffee place or bar. You want to set in a booth. Do you set next to the woman or across from her? I heard a dating advice expert suggest you always set beside the woman. He said setting across from someone is a confrontational position and the table creates a barrier between the both of you. He suggested setting next to the woman is better so its easier to make physical contact with the woman and their is no physical barrier between the both of you.

So in your dating experience have you set across or next to the woman on a first date? Which do you think makes more sense and would lead to a better date?

[Bad Penny II]

So your meeting a woman on a first date. You have never meant them before in person. Lets say you were matched online and traded a few messages before meeting for this first date.

Righto, nothen else happening.

Your meeting at a reastruant / coffee place or bar. You want to set in a booth. Do you set next to the woman or across from her?

Across from her obviously, the table provides a space, a stage on which to perform all the woman fooling tricks you've learned on the internet.  You want her to see your expressive hand gestures, you want her to see your face disapproving the heartless bastards that shun the refugee, or your contempt for the liberals letting all the vermin infested others in.

I heard a dating advice expert suggest you always set beside the woman.

Who is this fool, a virginal thirteen year old professor from a made up internet university?
Though it is good to sit and block woman's access to toilets, the world in general, it is important to establish the proper male/female hierarchy early in the relationship.  Of course we will benevolently let her pass, we are gentleman.

He said setting across from someone is a confrontational position and the table creates a barrier between the both of you.

We've already established that he's an idiot.  Women are simple predictable creatures, we be what they want for a little while and they are ours for a little while and that's as it should be.

So in your dating experience have you set across or next to the woman on a first date? Which do you think makes more sense and would lead to a better date?

Across, you can use your wizardly male wiles, unless you're Orkish, block her egress as long as possible, she may accept you as inevitable.

[billy rubin]

ive never gone on a date

[Curt]

ive never gone on a date

How old are you?  This is not good we need to change this

[Tank]

ive never gone on a date

How old are you?  This is not good we need to change this

[Ecurb Noselrub]

So, you're meeting a woman for the first time and you want to know where to sit?  Across from her. Next to her is presumptuous. Across from her tells her that you are interested in seeing her face-to-face, as an equal, and are interested in her story. Give her space and let her signal to you when she wants the space to narrow.

[Ecurb Noselrub]

I still sit across from my wife. That way, if she gets mad at me there is a barrier between me and her steak knife.

[xSilverPhinx]

So, you're meeting a woman for the first time and you want to know where to sit?  Across from her. Next to her is presumptuous. Across from her tells her that you are interested in seeing her face-to-face, as an equal, and are interested in her story. Give her space and let her signal to you when she wants the space to narrow.

This, I think. You don't want to invade the personal space of someone who isn't necessarily comfortable with you so early in the relationship.

[Icarus]

The goober who advised to sit next to the woman either has very little experience with dating or has not dated civilized, intelligent, sophisticated women. 

Depending on your expected outcome, dinner is not always the best plan for a first date.  If you believe that the woman is smart, has some class, and is inclined to be careful, then invite her to lunch.  Lunch is a much safer deal for a woman who is careful about meetings with men she does not know well....or at all. Sitting across from her is not an intimidating position. 

On the other hand if the expectation....of both of you...is to do the "my apartment or yours ? " routine, then never mind dinner.  Meet in a bar, use enough alcohol to become mutually uninhibited and continue from there.  In this sort of situation you can sit on adjacent bar stools until the agreement is struck.

[jumbojak]

I think that whoever gave that advice put way too much thought into it. If you're at a bar then yes, sit beside her. At a table? Give her space. Always is almost never a good answer.

[Davin]

In my experience, you always have to play it by ear. There is no universal rule book no matter how much everyone acts like there is. If she wants to sit across from you, then do that, if she wants to sit next to you, then do that. However, sitting across is fairly normal on the first few dates, so assume that but be willing to adapt.

[Randy]

I had always preferred being across from her so I could look into her eyes while we talked. It just seemed more romantic to me but everyone has their preferences.