How do you react when people are taking advantage of your friends right in front of you?

It's tricky, especially when you admit you fancy her yourself.

I'm not sure if it worked,

You mean you left before them and aren't sure if they still went home together?

Anyway - H has two fantastic attributes.

Ha ha.

"Nice try, mate"

While winking and shaking me by the hand. I don't think one single gesture has enraged me as much in all my life.

That's pretty fucking obnoxious, but allow for a lot of alcohol, and it's not that bad.

Since everyone was drunk at the time, the only way to think about it is as an episode that represented an abstraction from all of your feelings, and not your real feelings. No need to get all real-world about something that happened while everyone in question was piss drunk.

yea, i think so! theres a difference between when you think someone is reciprocating (even if you are wrong and its just drugs or whatever), and plain taking advantage of someone incapable.

But hey, this is coming from the serial girlfriend-stealer

eh?

haha, um, sorry, but i have a feeling this isn't quite right;)

man, i knew i should have come out last night

Seriously, I think you probably did the right thing.

I just think this "cockblocking", even when done with the best of intentions, is a bit of a thankless task. And you should maybe let people make their own mistakes. Unless you really think they're about to be raped. Maybe that's what you thought. I dunno.

This sounds a bit OTT - verging on life imitating Peep Show - and , presumably, didn't work if she's known you a long time.

How so, exactly? Do you mean that they end friendships by seeming too protective, and therefore a little too interested? (and isn't this usually the case?) Do you simply mean that you've never seen an overprotective friend stop a girl from doing what she wanted, because it's insulting to try to do that, no matter how drunk she is, especially when you're just as drunk?

I'd agree with any of these.

i dunno, its right that people should make their own mistakes, but its also not easy to let bad things happen. i think as long as you trust your own judgement and you trust your friends, its the right thing to do. like, itll become clear today whether mdc did the right thing or not. h will either a) be grateful to mdc, b) annoyed with mdc, c) wont remember anything.

both mdc and i have had the cockblocking moves put on us before in this circle before, and it was wrong. one was an overprotective friend, but his efforts were unwelcome, and he ended up pissing off his friend, as well as me. as long as h doesnt think that, mdc must have been doing something right?

I don't really socialise with that side of your social circle, but both of you (Gareth and MDC) have mentioned these guys to me before. But I've never really understood it. Have you ever spoken to the girls in question about this? What do they say about them?
Maybe they don't see them as creepy? Also, your friends and, presumably, people whose judgement you trust, obviously see some value in these people or they wouldn't continue to hang out with them.
Then again ... if that kind of messy weekend is pretty typical rather than once in a while then you might want to start questioning their judgement and maybe getting them to lay off the booze etc and have a long hard look at their lives, because in certain living-for-the-weekend states it's hard to stay objective and some people become part of your group just because they are always there.

Look - I'm not preaching at you, both you and Gareth know me and my going out history pretty well, but it has always struck me as odd that they continue to hang out with people who are as bad as you say. I'm at work today, but I'll be done by 7:00, you can give me a ring then if you want to.

It's weird though - I'm sure nothing really bad would have happened - most of the time these guys are funny more than anything else. Maybe it was the persistence of this one that got my back up. But yes, I'm not casting myself as anyone's guardian, people are free to make their own mistakes etc etc. I'm not trying to be prudish here.

it has always struck me as odd that they continue to hang out with people who are as bad as you say

Thing is, they don't! People seem to get dropped from the circle all the time, usually for, erm, being weird and creepy. But there's definitely a post-club mindset of "yay, let's invite loads of randoms back to ours" that tends to encourage these situations. But what can you do, other than go "erm, is this really sensible?"

(I can't believe I told him I was gay though. Life imitating Peep Show = OTM)

Ha! Defender of Female Friends Matt DC has actually done this to me!I obv/ feel my rights were infringed, but better that than being flattened by a bus ... : )

I basically don't consider the people making the mistakes to be the same ones paying for them.

you speak to h yet?

Also WRT this whole new concept of 'randoms' as denigration: so you want your life to contain no surprises, especially not in human form? The minute you open your door to a stranger and say 'come in' they are an invited guest and should be treated well -- the trick is to winnow before reaching that point.