What to say when he suggests meeting but won't lock down a time

Suggesting you meet is easy. Picking Tuesday at 7pm at the bar on Fifth Street is harder. When someone stays in the suggestion phase without moving to specifics, they're either disorganized and need someone else to make it real, or they're keeping you on the back burner while they figure out if they actually want to show up.

Neither situation gets better if you also stay vague. Your job is to force the choice. When you propose a specific time and place, you're not being pushy. You're being the only person in the conversation actually trying to make something happen. Most people respect that. Some people ghost. Both outcomes are information you need.

A good reply picks a day in the next week or two, a time that makes sense for both of you, and a place. Not 'sometime next week'. Not 'whenever you're free'. Wednesday at 7pm at the Italian place near the station. Something a person can actually say yes or no to.

The move here is to make it easy to commit but impossible to dodge. If he says yes, you have a date. If he says no but suggests a different day and time, he's still showing up as someone who wants to meet. If he goes back to vague mode or ghosts, you have your answer. Most importantly, you find out fast instead of texting for three weeks about maybe meeting sometime.

Send your specific proposal. Wait two to three days for a response. If he confirms, you're done. If he comes back with a different specific time, that works too. If he says something vague again, like 'for sure, maybe next week', do not propose a second time. That's him showing you he's not interested in actually meeting, just in keeping you interested.

The worst move is chasing him through multiple rounds of vague suggestions. Each time you re-propose, you're telling him it's okay to avoid commitment. After one specific ask that goes nowhere, step back. If he wants to meet, he can be the one to nail down a time. You've already done that work.