By Ana Karen Guzman-Perez
Reporter

In less than a year, three of my friends got married and had babies. My friend and I, let’s call her Jessica, whom I’ve known since I was 5, like to visit the babies as much as possible. One weekend when we were visiting one of our friends and their baby in Vancouver, Wash., we came to the realization of how strange life can be, how everyone has such a different life path.

Here we had friends that had a house, were married and had a baby. We were still single, living in the city and doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We spent all of our free time together with our other two friends, Aubrey and Damian, doing whatever. We spent most of our free time together, going on trips, having girls nights that involved giggle fests and scary movies. The best part about our friend group was that we didn’t have significant others or kids to worry about. We could make plans at any time without having to ask a significant other or worry about babysitters for a kid.

A year and a half ago, Aubrey got a boyfriend. Soon enough, we all knew it was going to happen to each of us. We would all start dating someone. The question was… how and when?

Dating apps are very prominent in today’s society. Many factors play into why someone would choose to use a dating app, but it seems like most people use one because of the convenience. Sure, you can meet someone at work, the store, a bar, but it’s easier to essentially be able to get a date with a tap of a screen.

Jessica and I decided to get dating apps together so that we weren’t going through the experience alone. This brings me to this month’s topic: dating. I’m not going to sugar coat it. It sucks.

The first and absolutely most important part about dating is safety. It doesn’t matter where you meet someone, on an app, at a bar, church, whatever – safety needs to be No. 1. Here’s my first tip: make sure you let a few people know when you meet up with a date. Let them know as much information as possible, including their name and where you’re going. If you move locations, let them know too. And make sure to let them know when you’re home safely. This leads me to my next tip: if you’re going on a first date, make sure to go to a public place. Never, ever, go to someone’s home before knowing them for a while. And don’t let your date know where you live. If possible, meet the person in public places instead of having your date pick you up. You are more vulnerable if you’re in someone’s car without a way out.

When I went to my current boyfriend’s home for the first time, I gave his address to a few friends and it made me feel better that he even suggested that because he knew I was a little reluctant. Here’s my next tip: if someone doesn’t want you giving out their information, even thought it’s a safety issue, they are probably hiding something or have a hidden agenda. I gave my friends my boyfriend’s full name and address, what time I was going to be at his house and what time I left. And even during the time I was at his house, they would check in on me and make sure I was OK.

I have definitely been on my share of terrible dates, so here’s my next tip: don’t feel obligated to hangout with someone again if you’re not feeling a connection. You don’t owe anyone anything for using up his time or if he paid.

The next part about my article is dating etiquette. First of all, I know cell phones run our lives nowadays. Here’s my first etiquette tip: Put your cell phones away during a date. It’s incredibly rude to be on your phone while someone is on a date with you. Checking it every once in a while isn’t a big deal, but try to avoid using it as much as possible. My next tip is about paying: (This is just from my experience) for the first few dates, split the bill. I know some people expect the other person to pay every time, and of course it’s nice to have someone pay for you, but to avoid any awkward situations, just pay your own bills. This can be tricky though. Not letting someone pay your bill doesn’t mean you’re not interested. And letting someone pay your bill doesn’t necessarily mean you’re interested. While I suggest splitting the bill to avoid any awkward situations, maybe just read the situation.

Here’s my next tip: don’t assume someone is going to pay for you. Always assume you’re going to split the bill. This way, nobody takes advantage of someone and orders expensive items. Which leads to my next tip: don’t take advantage of someone offering to pay the bill. I had someone do that to me on a date and it was very disrespectful since I made sure to order cheaper items when he paid.

My next tip is a good life tip in general: pay attention to what someone is saying. Especially on a first date. I went on a date once where I had to repeat myself a few times. One of the occasions we literally had the same conversation 20 minutes apart because he wasn’t paying attention.

At the end of a date I typically think it’s courteous for a guy to walk me to my car. I had a date where I was in a city I hadn’t been to, I couldn’t exactly remember where my car was and it was dark. I mentioned this to my date at the end of the night and instead of walking me to my car, all he said was good luck finding my car.

I think after my dating experiences, one of the most valuable lessons I have learned was to never do anything I wasn’t comfortable with and always go my gut instincts.

So remember, safety first and never do anything you’re not comfortable with.

As I’m sure you’re all dying to know, the story ends well, Jessica and I both ended up finding wonderful gentlemen.