It’s one of the oldest rituals of dating: You meet someone, you give them your phone number, and then you wait (and in some cases you wait and wait and wait).

Depending on how interested you are in the person, it can be a nerve-wracking period between the phone number exchange and the first phone call for a date. It’s even more nerve-wracking when they don’t call you right away and make you sweat.

The question is, just how long should you have to wait for a phone call?

I personally think two to three days is an acceptable time to wait for that first phone call, give the guy time to play it cool, whatever. I don’t mind playing the game a bit.

And I have accepted a call made a week after the numbers had been exchanged, but that was a rare exception (the guy was cute, and I hadn’t had a serious date in months).

Mike Smith, 22, says he regularly waits a week to call a girl.

“If I meet her on a weekend, I’ll wait until the next weekend,” he says.

That way, Mike explains, he can keep it casual and ask where she’s going to be that night. If she’s in the same area as him, he’ll suggest they meet up.

Mike says he doesn’t think girls mind that he waits so long to call because “most girls don’t want you to act desperate nowadays.”

True, desperation is always a turn-off. But personally, I find a guy who always has to play it cool to be a turnoff as well. Maybe that’s just me.

Mike also says he never waits for a phone call from a girl. Once his number is in her phone, he gives up all expectations of getting a call.

“I don’t wait around or keep track,” he says. “If she calls me she calls me. I don’t expect girls to call me.”

I guess if you have no expectations you can’t be disappointed, right?

Paula Salisbury, 22, takes a bit of a more no-nonsense approach. She’ll wait, but only for so long.

“I give him three days,” she says. “And if he doesn’t call me, I don’t call him.”

I agree with the last part of Paula’s statement, especially when it comes to returning phone calls. I pretty much adhere to a “One and Done” rule there. If I make the effort to call and he doesn’t return a phone call, then that’s it. I’m not going to assume he was probably really busy and just forgot, and I won’t call him just to make sure something didn’t happen.

I’m a big believer that if someone can’t take the time to call you in a timely manner to show that they’re interested, then you can’t be bothered to worry about waiting for a phone call.

Unless he’s cute and you haven’t had a serious date in months. Kidding, just kidding.