I once received a text message telling me that from a guy that I'd only given my number to because we were supposed to meet up. He'd stood me up and I decided from the brief online interaction we had following that text that it was probably better that we'd never met in person. So what was he doing texting me at all, let alone texting something like "I wnt 2 mke u fl gr8"?

Okay, the truth comes out ... we'd flirted a little bit when we were online. We'd sent each other instant messages that hinted at risqué. But they hinted at it, they weren't statements of intention. And that was before we'd stopped talking due to the fact that he'd never turned up at the bar that we were supposed to be meeting at weeks before the text arrived.

So how does one handle this kind of nonsense? It seems to be a regular problem in the online dating world. Maybe it doesn't always happen to this extent but one party flakes out on the other and then tries to resume things in a cavalier-yet-sexy manner as though nothing had happened. It's annoying. And it makes me think twice about handing out my phone number, even if it is to someone I've decided to meet up with.

Incidentally, I sent back a "who is this?" and got no reply.