Something happened yesterday that I feel a little weird about. Skip down to the last sentence if you don't want to read this.

My buddy is a real AFC. He's a senior in college, has never had a girlfriend, and I'm suspicious that his experience with women is non-existent. But lately he's been getting bold. He asked two girls out and got both their numbers. One later flaked out and said she had a boyfriend (she actually did), and the other he went on a coffee date with. The date evidently didn't go all that well, because they didn't set up a day 2. Additionally, my buddy texted her, but the convo fizzled out and she hasn't texted him back for over two days.

Yesterday in the dining hall a group of people sits down at the table next to ours, and low and behold, a few minutes later the girl shows up and sits with them. My buddy, noticing this development, shifts around in his chair, says hello to the girl, and tries to hold some semblance of a conversation. Picture a guy sitting sideways in his chair, leaning over the back, with his head facing a group of people who are trying to speak amongst themselves. I could feel his value plummeting.

I got up, said I was tired of the place having been there for an hour, and said he should come with me. I figured if we left it would save him and the group of people from an awkward situation, and maybe, just maybe, communicate a little bit of disinterest to the girl, giving my buddy a sliver of a chance with her. After we get far enough away, I told him that he shouldn't talk to a girl who hadn't texted him back for two days in that situation. He accused me of making the situation really awkward (projection, I'm guessing), and told me that he really liked the girl. I could see his eyes watering up. I felt that I might have done something wrong.

I guess my question is this: When you see your buddy bombing horribly, should you try and pull them out, or should you just let things happen, hoping that they will learn from the experience later on?