Confessions

'Cause guys wanna get their dicks wet. XD Sad, but true. Think about it, if they loved you for you, why wouldn't a friendship be just as fulfilling? They want that physical intimacy (I know, not just sex, but my point remains.) too. I'm sure it's really not that shallow, but that's part of what it boils down to. I mean, it'd be hard to just be friends with my wife, I too like to get my dick wet from time to time. XD (Not strictly my reasoning, but you get the point, albeit a bit crass.)

I got female friends. Granted majority of them I met through trying to date them, but for the most part we are great friends. :D @Halo that should be a poster on my wall

Teacup, With what I'm saying, I absolutely can have female friends. I don't crave physical intimacy from another and I can just have friends of either sex. The point was, for those that have already expressed a romantic interest, it's kind of hard to go from that and then just be friends. The initial physical attraction doesn't just disappear like that, but it can be controlled. For most, it's just like a form of torture to just stop desiring the other person on a more intimate level. A train at a stand still is easy to keep still, but once it's moving, it'll be a while before it stops. Those guys, they're holding on to hope, as you said. It's the thought that maybe in time, you'll change your mind, no matter if you already said no. The last time that happened to me(A few years back), I had to just cut ties, because I knew where my mind was at and I knew it would be unfair for myself and my "friendship" would've been under false pretenses. But, thats just how I function. A breife edit: I understand how you could think that I meant guys and by proxy, I as well, just want sex. However, I want sex with my best female friend. My wife will always be that to me, hence is why it'd be hard to just be regular old friends. She's more than that, in a transcendent sort of sense. I don't see her as just a friend that I want to have sex with, she is my partner until I die.

Didn't have a crush on the chick I cut ties with, but I knew at that time I was lonely and more likely to have held on to the hope of something more, when she made it clear there was nothing aside from a friendship to be had. It was just a way of saving myself from future self inflicted pain. But, yes, guys being thirsty are just the type you need to metaphorically kick in the nuts. Those types don't really care about you and are of no loss to kick to the side. Unfortunately, there are a TON of them out there(And a ton of thirsty women, which help fuel the other thirsty guys). Fatalis, Really? Way to pump up confidence in those who don't get hit on like that.

Teacup, what you're doing is probably the correct thing to do. And like asshat pointed out, a guy that gets turned down lingers around because they figure eventually things will change, when really, they won't. If one side has romantic feelings, but the other side doesn't reciprocate them, and they agree to be friends... well they're not really "just friends." The side that was turned down will never truly accept being only friends. So the bigger dick move is for the side that rejected the other to, in a sense, lead the other person on by saying "Let's still be friends and hang out and stuff!" All that's gonna do, in the end, is make the rejected person feel miserable and confused. As soon as the rejected person gets an invite to lunch, or a morning hello text, they're right back where they started... "Ohhhhhhhh maaaaaybe she/he DOES have feelings for me..." The platonic aspect is a lie on the side of the rejected person. So for the situation you're describing, I'd actually pat your head, because you're doing the right thing. It can seem hurtful, but it's better to be forthright about it, even to the extend of being a dick, than it is to be like "but we can still hang out!" and cause a slow, lingering pain for the rejected person. The only thing worse is to say nothing at all... to ignore the person. To me, that is the most gutless and dickhead thing a person can do. I mean, at least have the decency to put the rejected person's mind at ease.