Rules are made to be broken.. Not always true. Starting in high school, one of my best friends and I started a list of rules that went something like this:

1. Don’t date men who are into NASCAR
2. Don’t date men who snort cocaine
3. Don’t date men who are too attached to their car
4. Don’t’ date men who have been to prison
5. Don’t’ date men who wear pinky rings
(OK, not verbatim, but you get the picture)…and the list went on and on and on. Over the years, on occasion, we broke the rules and would date some type of man off the Do Not Date list. We always regretted it, because the reasons behind the rules were always sound.

After I broke up with Mr. 3.5 Inches, I went on a dating blitz and met most of the men on Internet dating sites. Very quickly I developed The Rules Of On-line Dating.
1. Never meet someone before speaking to them over the phone first.
(Just because you find them charming via e-mail and/or IM doesn’t necessarily mean they will be as charming over the phone or in person.)
2. When planning the first date, always agree to meet them somewhere. Never let them pick you up. Always have your own transportation available and never let them know where you live.
(You don’t want to have to depend on them for transportation and get stuck somewhere with them if things go bad. And it’s obvious why it’s better to meet them somewhere then have them pick you up at home.)
3. Always, always, always meet first for a drink.
(You don’t want to get stuck at a long dinner or an event if things go bad.)

The on-line dating tale that I will be recounting in this episode of On-line Dating Tales, is an example of how distressing a situation can get if you break the rules.

I broke rule #3.

Stay tuned for Part II.

Posted by NYM at 8:45 AM
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