Safe Dating: Advice For Single Women
Have you seen the 1977 movie, Looking for Mr. Goodbar? Diane Keaton stars in the film, and gives a superb performance as a single woman who gets killed by a man she's been dating. It's an eerie movie, and it might make you think twice before going on another blind date.
With all the dating advice out there, no one likes to talk about the subject of preventing violence in dating. We all think we can spot a violent offender, or that our women's intuition will tell us when there's something creepy about our date. But many women who have been victims of violence on dates have reported that they were surprised by the violent activity.
There's good news, though: There are simple precautions women can take to make dating safer. By the way, none of this dating advice applies to a date that someone close to you can vouch for. If your best friend's brother, for instance, whom you've had a crush on since you were seven, finally asks you out, you can let him pick you up in his car. What we're talking about here is how to safely go out with someone you met online or through a personal ad, or someone you barely know.
Tell A Friend
The best advice about dating someone new is to tell a friend that you are going out with someone new. Arrange for the friend to call you on your cell phone at a prearranged time, early in your date. When your phone rings, take the call and tell your friend that things are going well, and that you'll talk to her again in two hours. Now your date knows that your friend is checking up on you, and that she'll start asking questions if you don't answer your phone again. Don't be embarrassed about all this fuss. Any man worth a second date will be impressed that you took these precautions.
Arrange Your Own Transportation
Again, I know this is an unpleasant topic, and the popular dating advice columns don't mention it, but it's a fact that most bad guys who prey on single women use cars to trap their victims. Avoid the possibility of a car abduction by insisting on meeting a blind date, or a date that you don't yet trust 100%, in a public place.
Before your date, as much as you may be tempted by your date's offer to pick you up at your home or apartment, my dating advice to you is to drive yourself, take the bus, take a taxi, walk, or have a friend or family member drop you off to meet your date in a public place. When it's someone new you're dating, advice like this could save your life.
And when the date is over, make sure you have cab fare to get home. When your date offers you a ride home, you can thank him sweetly. You can kiss him on the cheek, or even on the lips. But you can't get into a car with him yet. You need to spend more than a few hours with a man to trust him enough to get into a car alone with him.
With a few precautions, you can enhance your safety on dates. If you want to practice really safe dating, my advice to you is to go on double dates or group dates. When it comes to dating, there's safety in numbers.
