Keeping safe when meeting new people

Adults always tell their kids to never talk to strangers or to get into a stranger’s car even if the stranger tells the kid that he knows the parents or that their mum had sent them to pick them up. Always say no, walk away, run or scream when a stranger approaches you.

But with all that said, often children forget by the time they’re in their teens and that’s really how some disappear without a trace. But some people do it even when they’re much older, maybe even in their early twenties or late thirties. Have you seen the number of posts in Facebook groups from anonymous members looking to meet new people for a coffee or to just hang out? Have you seen the number who respond by saying, I’m up for it? DM me? I’m always flabbergasted at the yes responses from girls not knowing whether the anonymous poster is even a girl or a boy or just a plain sociopath. Where is their built-in alarm bell? Does it not go off when they read a post like this?

In the old days, a good friend or a family member would have set someone up on what used to be called a blind date. Now they don’t actually call them blind dates as such because of the word ‘blind’ in the phrase and because there are now numerous apps that you can download to meet people of the opposite gender. But those blind dates are relatively safer than the alternatives that are available today.

I’m not saying they were 100% safe, because you can never know but, to some extent, the person is known by your closest friends or relative. Therefore, I find it astonishing that people sign up to these Apps and believe the profiles on them are actually real. How do they know that? Because the person said so? Is that person really a doctor or a lawyer or just a crazy kid messing around? Or a prisoner with access to the internet? Or an ex-con? Or a person looking to marry a rich person? You will never know because no one is going to write, I was in prison. Or, I’m a gold-digger looking for a rich husband or a rich wife so I don’t have to do anything for the rest of my life. Or that you must have a particular passport because I need to have a dual nationality. You will never know.

A lot of this risk is taken by desperate men and women, mostly women, who don’t like being single. But that being said, a fair amount of risk is also taken by young ordinary girls who just want to meet members of the opposite gender. But, according to an ex-member of the secret service, there are precautions that all girls should take when meeting young men.

For example, if the young man says, I’ll pick you up’, always say, ‘I’ll meet you there’ because you don’t want him to know where you live. Never give out your last name when you first meet someone whose intention you do not know. He says when you go into a room, keep your eyes open and quickly scan the room for the entrance and the exit and make a mental note of who’s around you. Always stand with your back to a wall so you can see who’s coming in.

Never hang around in empty rooms or empty corridors for too long. Never hang around in car parks or near your car or sit in it for too long. When you get to your car, get in, lock the doors and drive! I am absolutely certain, no one reading this locks their car doors when they get in.

Also, never look lost, even if you are; always look as though you have a clear destination and walk with purpose towards it, even if you’re not sure of it. When walking on the pavement, keep as far away as possible from parked cars.

Never let a stranger come to your house and never open the door to strangers. And, for goodness sake, never ever respond to an anonymous post asking to meet new people.