Meeting Your Online Date Face to Face and What to Do If it Goes Wrong

Well done. You have joined a great dating site, and found what you feel is your ideal partner. After getting to know each other online, and seeing the picture, all is well and you decide to meet face to face. This is the first step in a new relationship, will it be everything you have ever dreamed of? or will it all go wrong? If it does turn into a nightmare, and you need to get out and fast, how do you do it, and what precautions should you take to make sure you keep your escape routes open?

You may have emailed, spoken on the phone, and seen the other persons smiling face on a digital photo, even so your first meeting is in reality little better than a blind date. So you are there nervously waiting for your soul mate, but after you meet you realize quickly that there is little hope of a spark, and all you can hope for is a fire drill or other man made disaster to end it as quickly as possible. You can't rely on fate intervening, so how do you ditch a bad date? Here are eight practical options you should always have in mind in case of a bad date emergency.

1 - First impressions count. Make sure you are there first and get yourself in a position where you can see the door. In such a way that you can see your date arrive but they can't see you. If you get a look at them and they look approximately like the photo, but 10 years older or 50 pounds heavier, you can escape down your previously surveyed getaway route. You can always make an excuse phone call and apology once you are out. It's guilt free you only ran because they lied first.

2 - The escape call. Before leaving for your date make sure you arrange with a friend to call you at a time when you will be a little into your date. After answering the call you can either tell your date it was not important, if all is well, if not however you can fake an emergency that will get you out of there fast.

3 - The fake call, If you didn't arrange a get out call, you can always fake one, either by saying you have received a text message, or by going to the bathroom and saying someone called whilst you were away.

4 - The reverse fake call - You or a friend, can call the venue where you are having the date, and get them to page your nightmare companion with a fake emergency. They will be puzzled when they receive the message, but nine times out of ten will make their excuses and leave. This may also get you a free meal, don't hang around too long though, because they may come back!

5 - The fake illness - You can always say you feel ill and need to leave, this takes a bit of care as if you seem too ill, your date may try and leave with you to look after you, so use with caution.

6 - If you are feeling particularly callous you can go the the bathroom and instead run straight out of the exit and don't look back. Variations of this can be used depending on what type of venue you find yourself in.

7 - This works better for women, but can be adapted for both sexes. Why not use psychological warfare, and get your date to run out on you, by announcing how cute your kids will be, or how you can already see you two being married. Extreme variations of this can include, talking about the voices in your head or even talking to the voices in your head. The main advantage of this method is, if your date dumps you, you will still get to enjoy the meal, drinks, or whatever, and it's completely guilt free.

8 - Shockingly you could try being honest. Talk to your date say you are sorry but you can see no hope of this date working, make your excuses and go. The advantage of this is whilst not being entirely guilt free, it is a little less heartless than just running, especially if carefully worded.

I hope these tips help you next time you find yourself in a hopeless situation and gets you out of there fast. I know it may seem cold but there really is no point prolonging a date once you see it has no future. Move on and better luck next time.