subject: Bad Dating Experiences - Simple And Effective Dating Safety Tips [print this page] Have you ever had a really terrible date? I have and I want to share it with you today. You see, there was a time when cell phones didn't all have cameras built-in. In fact there was a time when cameras used to used film. That being the case not many people online had photos to share. So when you started chatting with someone the first question you asked was "a/s/l?" which stood for: "age...sex...location?" This was a good way to start talking to someone, but it left the question of what do you look like to mystery.
So later you had to say "describe yourself?" Well the girl I had been talking to described herself as looking like Sydney from the popular show "Melrose Place" Sydney was a very attractive red head. I figured if she looked anything like Sydney I was in luck. Turns out she looked nothing like Sydney, except the fact that she had red hair. It was an awful date. Not just because she wasn't gorgeous, but because she lied about so much about herself. No one likes a liar.
So what can we do in today's world to protect ourselves from really bad dates? Really bad dates lie about their looks. Really bad dates lie about their personality. Really bad dates lie about their character. Otherwise if they didn't lie you would have never gone out with them. So how can we protect ourselves from people like that?
Just like my date I am sure you may have gone on a blind date in your past and been disappointed. The man or woman misrepresented themselves in the looks department and you ended up going out with a person who just wasn't your type. Today we have photos we can show people online, but many people will send you a photo that they took 10 years ago. This is a slick way to figure out things, move the conversation to texting. When you are using your texting feature on your phone it is simple to say "hey I have an idea, lets both snap a picture of ourselves right now and text it to each other." Almost all phones today have the ability to do this. If they say their phone doesn't you have to decide if you think they are lying or not. If they truly have an older phone just be polite and try to make sure the pics they sent you online are truly recent.
Our dates can lie about their personality. This is infinitely worse than a date that lies about their looks. There are deep issues coming out when a person represents themselves incorrectly. When a person seems to agree with you all the time and like everything you enjoy they are very likely misrepresenting themselves. Also there are little things you can pick up on. For instance do they use your phrases or ways of saying things a lot. Are they mimicking you? Be very careful of a person who does this because they are subconsciously trying to get close to you and typically it is not for good reasons.
Finally the worst mistake you can make in choosing a date is meeting a person who has lied about their character. Maybe this person has told you they are single, but in fact they are married. I had this happen to me once. I dated a girl for about two weeks before I found out she was going home to her husband every night. So how do you protect yourself against such a terrible experience? There really is no boiler plate method I can give you, but there are some things to watch out for:
1) Do they constantly change plans at the last-minute?2) Are they always hesitant about letting you come to their house or meet their friends?3) Do they speak really bad or really good about a supposed "ex" all the time? (The idea here is if they talk about them constantly it may be because they are still in their life.)
Use these basic ideas to figure out if your potential date is misrepresenting themselves in the area of character.
There is no absolute way to make sure you never have another bad date. These are some simple and effective ways that you can use to protect yourself against some of the more obvious problems that come up. You need to protect yourself against people who lie about their looks, their personality, and their character. Keeping these things in mind will bring you much closer to that successful romantic relationship you have always wanted.
