Arranging the First Meeting
When you’re meeting people using online dating sites, it’s important for all singles to remember to exercise caution when meeting someone for the first time. It’s easy to say you’ve been corresponding for three, six, nine months, but when it comes to an in-person meeting, you still have to be very careful. There is a world of difference between singles meeting on line and meeting in person, and you just never know what kind of person with which you have been conversing until you meet in person. Of course, even then you don’t know enough to throw caution to the wind.
No matter how long you have been communicating with someone that you met online or through an online dating service, do not meet them alone, and that is just as important for men as for women in today’s world. If you’re meeting for dinner, meet at the restaurant in your individual cars and leave the same way. Though this is more important for female singles, men are not exempt, although it’s more of an exploitation or fraud attempt than physical violence. Until you have met several times in public places, singles should never agree to meet a new dating partner alone, and even then, do not put yourself in such a vulnerable position as to meet at his or her house, apartment, or hotel room unless you are absolutely sure it is safe to do so.
In addition to dinner, other public places that singles might consider for their first meeting include malls, museums, crowded beaches, visits with friends, amusement park, or a picnic in an area that is frequented by crowds of people. If you don’t have a cell phone, borrow one for the occasion so that you have a way to contact someone for help if something should go wrong. For the female singles, do not use the first meeting to show off all of your sexy clothes—rather, choose an outfit that is conservative but stylish so that you don’t put yourself into a vulnerable position. If you’re going to pursue online dating, you have to learn how to conduct yourself so that you don’t set yourself up for danger.
Even if you have spoken on the phone, corresponded by email, and been in online chats, the first meeting should be to get to know each other. No matter how much you have spoken, there is nothing like meeting in person to get the real scoop, especially since you now have the facial expressions and can determine if everything is fact or if there is some fiction in there as well. Female singles are taken in more than males, but that doesn’t mean that it never happens. Everyone is capable of being conned, so you have to always be on your guard and listen carefully to what your date says so that you can catch anything that seems to contradict something else he or she said. Contradictory statements are the easiest way to catch a lie,
Your first meeting is important because that is the one that will set the pace for the rest of the relationship is there is to be one. If there are any kinds of mind games or dishonesty, this is where you want to set the cards straight. Singles should not be so desperate as to think things will get better—deceit and lies on the first meeting are signs of things to come.