You're right, and you see how ingrained it is--I actually thought I was being careful to exclude the word "please," but it slipped in there on me anyway. It probably wouldn't do any harm, but it isn't necessary and leaves open one more possibility for someone who really wants to believe in "mixed messages."
And I don't recommend simply not responding without telling him that you're not interested, because of exactly what you predict--he may (probably will) take the fact that he hasn't heard from you and spin it in the direction that he likes best. BobbiJo has blocked two email addresses her stalker-guy used to mail her, and he simply registered a new one and carried merrily on, sure it was all some sort of misunderstanding or maybe a lost packet on a server somewhere. Even at that, simply ceasing to respond is better than responding . . . . sending your own message cutting him off completely and THEN ceasing to respond is best of all.
