Blind Dating - Before Going on your First Date

Consider this scenario! You meet a guy in an Internet chat room. You exchange a few text messages with him and both of you seem to hit it off instantly. In the days that follow you are spending a wholesome number of hours every day in chatting with him. You revel in his brilliant flair for conversation, which entices you to open up and discuss about the most intimate aspects of your life. One day, he sends you his photograph via e-mail. Suddenly, you have a face for the man with whom you have been chatting for so long. You find him good looking and that night when you go to bed you find yourself fantasising that he is in the same bed beside you.

Next day, you select your best photograph and, without losing another moment, e-mail it to him. Things go on an overdrive after that, as he promptly e-mails back that he wants to meet you. You are eager to meet him too, yet suddenly the realisation dawns that you hardly know this guy. All you have about him is a photograph and the lines of text messages that you had exchanged for the past few weeks. Going out with him would be almost like going on a blind date. You have never been on a blind date before and you are naturally kind of nervous about going out with a stranger. After all, you are one those girls who consider themselves really picky when it comes to guys they date.

You e-mail him a suitable excuse that you think might suffice to satisfy him. But he is insistent that he wants to meet you in person. The next email from him contains his mobile number and a note that says that he wants to talk to you. You hurriedly dial his number and hear his voice for the first time. His voice sounds reassuring and confident just like his text messages did. He assures you that the date he has in mind will be totally platonic. Nothing physical is about to happen! You laugh at the idea. But he has already made deep inroads into your heart and you are now about as eager to meet this guy, as he seems to be to meet you.

The nagging possibility that this unknown stranger might even turn out to be the elusive lover you have always dreamed of has already taken hold of you. But even as your mind is agog with the possibilities, you are also being racked by some real defeatist thinking, "Sure, he seems charming, but all jerks sound charming on the phone." Before the phone conversation is over you have made an dinner date with him at a popular restaurant. Now there is no turning back, you are already committed to a date with a person who is almost a stranger to you.

So how should you prepare for this blind date? Here are a few points that you should consider:

1) Location is of utmost importance. You have done the right thing by agreeing to meet him in a public restaurant where, if something gets wrong and your dream date turns into a nightmare, you will have the protection of the crowd around you.

2) Cash and credit cards. It may be the guy's task to pay, but the woman should not appear empty handed just in case.

3) Condoms for both men and women. Hey, he might have promised a platonic date. But you never know how things might progress once you and he get together. We are living in the modern age. Whatever your outlook to sex and relationships, it is always advisable to be prepared for any eventuality.

4) A smart woman should never leave her house without a mobile on her person and if she is going on a blind date, a mobile is of even greater importance. If something goes wrong, you can always summon help through your mobile.

5) As an added precaution you may ask your friend to call you about 45 minutes into the date. If things are going well, you can send the call to voice-mail.

6) Before leaving your home you need to make sure that you know the directions to the restaurant where you two are meeting.

7) A sense of honour. Okay it's not "a thing" but it is the one factor that ruins dates more than anything else, the inability to laugh and enjoy oneself. Going on a date in a bad mood is not going to make your guy feel special.

8) While taking all the precautions it is also essential that you avoid distrusting him completely. After all, people are innocent until proven guilty, so there is no need for you to take along an attitude that you blind date is going to be as bad as your ex-boyfriend. For best result you must take trust and doubt pragmatically.

9) Never forget that it was the personality that you displayed while chatting on the Internet that got him so enthused about you. Make sure that you haven't left your personality behind at home. Whilst first dates can be quite daunting for many, there is no excuse for forgetting yourself.

10) Never be on time or he will take you for granted. Being a lady it is your progressive to be 15-30 minutes late for the date. But at the same time you should make sure that you are not too late.

That's about it! He meets you inside or outside the restaurant as you have arranged with him, and you get to make eye contact with your blind date. Once you are at a table in the restaurant you should relax, get a drink for both parties and settle down for some great conversation which, hopefully, will be as invigorating as the Internet chatting you two had indulged in. May be, you will find in him what you have always been looking for in a man.

But if that happens to be the case you must exercise caution in the way you express your feelings for him. Men enjoy giving a chase. Apply every trick in the book to let him know that you are interested, but don't let him know for sure.

Here are a few tips that you can incorporate to impress your man on your first date:

1) Display your personality in everything that you do during your date. For example, when it comes to food, go ahead and order what you truly want to eat. Don't let him order for you, make him feel that you are really in control.

2) Don't check out other men at the restaurant while you are dating this guy. Make sure that he is not checking out other women.

3) During conversation try to find out if he has any good platonic female friends. Men should be able to relate to women as friends, not just as sex objects.

4) Never rush to sex. This is the first date and if you give him what he wants on the first date itself, he might lose interest in you. Wait for few weeks - if not months - before bringing sex into your relationship. It is most important that you do it at the time of your own choosing and not of his choosing.

5) This is your first date with him, so it is always better to keep it brief. You want to have something to talk about the next time you get to meet him.

6) Don't tell him everything about yourself, eventually you may, but at the first date it is better to be a tad conservative in talking about your personal life and thoughts. Instead give him a chance to open up. All men like to talk about themselves and if you grant him that opportunity he will start worshipping the ground beneath your feet.

7) But if he talks too much about himself you may as well decide to avoid him in future. Talking too much about oneself is a sign of insecurity.

8) It is possible that he might be the man you would like to be married to, but never talk about marriage on your first date.

9) Flirt. A mild flirting is a good way to get him really interested in you. You may joke around with him, make lots of eye contact and may be touch him on the arm. But don't overdo the flirting routine. Try to keep it a little mysterious, not totally obvious. Never let him develop the notion that you are head over heels gaga over him.

10) But if you find that the guy is a loser and you want to get away from him then you could start talking about something really boring - like the configuration of your laptop. That will usually scare him off.

11) It is important that you should not be tense when you arrive for a tryst with your date. You should smile a lot and keep things fun and happy. Being confident and smiley will elicit a far more positive response. If he isn't the macho kind and you don't like him anyway, don't let that spoil your evening.

You can still even have some affectionate fun with him - anything goes as long as it remains at a platonic level.

If you do all the things right, there is no reason why you should not emerge a winner in all your relationships.