Sam Romero, a guest poster, writes on dating safely:
Date Safety 101: How To Keep Yourself Safe On Your First Date With Someone New of a Different Gender
As exhilarating as a first date can be with an attractive guy or girl, it’s also a time where you should exercise caution and common sense. All too often, common sense flies out the window after someone asks us out. We let our guards down and do things that we may regret later on. Additionally, we put our safety as risk. Remember, our safety is more important than chemistry and fun. Although they seem like a great person, you’re just meeting them for the first time and you still don’t know them that well. So, while you’re getting ready for your first date, keep in mind these following safety tips:
Can You Hear Me Now?
Things can move pretty fast when you hit it off with someone online. But, you should pump the breaks and give yourself some time before meeting them for a date. One way to get to know them a little better is by talking to them on the phone first. This will help to shape your impression of him. Additionally, it can help to assess whether he’s a total creep or not.
Choose a Public Place
Without any doubt or hesitation, the first date should be in a public place. Whether it’s a bar, restaurant, café or club, it doesn’t matter as long as there are plenty of people there. Remember, there is safety in numbers. Additionally, make sure this public place isn’t near where you live or work. Keep that a secret until they’ve earned your trust. Perhaps, choose a place that’s closer to a friend’s home, just in case you need some backup.
Tell a Friend
Always let someone know the plans of your first date. Tell your friend, mom or sibling where you’re going and who this person you’re meeting is. In fact, for girls especially, you can take it a step further and allow your trusted allies access to your GPS location at all times through your iPhone. If that doesn’t work, then coordinate a plan with your friend or family member to call or text you at a certain time during your date. This is a great option for letting them know that you’re safe and to use it as an excuse to bail if they’re a creeper.
Meet up for a Date, No Rides
As kind or innocent as it may seem, never let the new date pick you up on a first date. It’s not a smart idea to give a stranger your home address or to let them see where you live. This is a trust that’s earned, not granted just because you both swiped right. Take your own car to the first date or catch an Uber.
Also, if you caught an Uber or taxi to the date, make sure you catch one home. Even if the date went well, it’s best to not get in a car with a new person that you’ve only really known for a few hours.
Park in a Well-lit Public Place
If you drove yourself to the date, find parking that’s in a well-lit public spot. Don’t choose some remote, dark spot a few blocks away. In addition to the obvious dangers associated with being a single person, especially a woman, parking in a dark area, there’s also the possibility that your date will want to walk you to your car afterward. If you feel that the date went well, then allowing them to accompany you to your car is an option. A well-lit, public parking spot has the same concept as meeting at a public place for a date. It’s more people and more witnesses.
If they ask to get in the car with you, tell them not at this time. At least wait until the 4th or 5th date before you fog-up the windows.
Pay Attention to Manners and Intentions
A good way to gauge a date is by the way they treat other people. Pay attention to how they treat the staff and strangers in addition to how respectful they are to you. If they’re aggressive, touchy or inappropriate then it’s time to cut the date short and head for the nearest exit. A person’s intentions and manners directly reflect what kind of person they are.
Common Sense Equals Safety
For the most part, these tips are common sense. It’s that very notion that we stress to you. Put aside how attractive they are for a moment and think about your safety. Remember, they’re still a stranger and you need to exercise some common sense when making plans for a first date with them. Are you ready for your first date?
Sam Romero
Sam Romero is an up and coming relationship consultant catering mostly to guys in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. He’s on a one-man mission to help other men learn what went wrong in their last relationship, and how to get it right starting from now so that they can get the woman they love back. Sam’s vision is that every guy who comes to his website GetHerBackGuide.com will walk away a more attractive man capable of getting his next relationship right, whether that’s with his ex or with someone new. He seeks to ensure that no man who finds his website ever has to go through relationship heartbreak again.
