The Meeting....
When all is said and everything done, dating is all about meeting real people in real life. Once you have got through the email stage, past the chat and talked on the phone, then the next step, the biggest step, is meeting the other person. But, whilst this is undoubtedly the most nerve wracking part of this whole adventure, it still does not have to be a nightmare, or something that prevents you from sleeping!
In truth, all of the same rules that have applied to every other step of the online dating process so far still apply here. That, however, is unlikely to make things any easier for you (or for the person that you are meeting, come to that!) and there are a few additional things that you must take into account First is your safety.
Whether we like to acknowledge the fact or not, the privacy and secrecy that is afforded to people by online dating can lead to potential safety issues. Unfortunately, the world has more than its fair share of bad guys (and sometimes girls too) and there is no doubt that some of them have managed to find their way onto online dating sites in the past.
Now, it would be fair to say that the security measures adopted by the larger, more reputable online dating sites are more aggressive than they were previously, and therefore, they are also more effective. Effective, yes, but not perfect - the never will be -and so you should at least have some familiarity with basic safety measures that you can adopt, or at least consider adopting.
Here are a few very basic but nevertheless important rules that you might consider following when it comes to online dating meetings. Meet in a visibly public area, a well lit place where there are other people. This way, you can easily stay safe with the public's watchful eye, and try not to allow yourself to be dragged away from such an area on the first date, in particular. Meet them someplace that is away from your home. If possible, use your own transport to get there.
-Make sure that you are comfortable with them. If they try to touch you and you are not happy with that, make a point of telling them and, if they continue to do so, simply leave.
-Make sure that someone knows where you are going, and who with.
So, stick to these guidelines, and you should stay safe. This will not, however help you escape from someone who, whilst they are not at all dangerous, is just someone that you really do not like. But, there is a way of making your exit with a minimum of drama. Here it is: Hook up with a good friend and tell them what you are doing.
Set things up so that, when an online date is not going well, and you need a way out, they will be the person to help you. Ask them to give you a call maybe two hours after your date starts, and tell them to be ready for you perhaps not answering their questions in the way that you might usually do. Warn them that you might seem a little 'weird' on the phone!
Then, when they call you, if you are looking for a reasonably subtle escape, all you need to do is tell your date that there is some kind of emergency, and that you need to go. But, don't answer any of their questions at this point - you're in a hurry, right - and do not make the problem so major that they might want to help you to get over the trauma of it! If, on the other hand, everything with your date is going okay, then just make light of the conversation on the phone and let your friend know that you are happy with the way things are going.
It's a relatively easy and painless 'get out' from a possible bad situation, if you should ever need one. Clearly, meeting someone that you have found through the world of online dating is not necessarily something that is going to be that easy or straightforward to do.
But it is an absolute necessity at some point, if you ever plan for your 'cyber dating' to become the real thing! And, don't forget or ignore that fact that meeting in person is an awful lot different to chatting online, so you have to go out of your way to make a great 'first time' impression (once again!)
Apply any and every seduction and attraction technique, trick and method that you know, boy or girl, to make the first date as successful as possible.
Make an effort to make the first date something special and 'push the boat out' a bit, if you can. It is, after all, all in the interests of your own future, so do whatever it takes to sweep them off their feet!
Do not make he mistake of thinking that the job is already done - chatting online and meeting in the real world are two very different things!
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