Good Business Practice: Do Not Do To Your Dates What You Won’t Do To Your Business Associates Part 2 of 3

Here’s my dating etiquette list:

1.    Dress approximately like you would for a business meeting. Like, you know, don’t show up looking like a hobo and expect your date to love you for who you are inside. For a first date, the outside is all he/she can see.

2.   During a job interview, don’t tell them you think your old boss is a tyrant and a bastard. By the same token, don’t bitch about your ex on your first date.

3.   Once a meeting is scheduled, only cancel it if there’s a legitimate reason. Somehow, “I’ve got a last minute appointment with my manicurist” just doesn’t cut it.

4.   Once you know that you have to cancel, tell your business associate right away, so they can make the best use of their time. As in, don’t wait until the girl has gotten all dolled up and her roommates have left for the movies before telling her the date is off. Give her a chance to join her friends.

5.   Simply not showing up is not an answer. In my formal life in the corporate accounting world, I’ve done hiring and encountered a few no-shows.  It was a waste of my time and energy, because it takes mental preparation to be in the mind frame of an interviewer. Believe me, I noted the names of these individuals in my files. One of them actually got the nerve to apply for another opening a year down the road, and one of the qualities she praised herself for was “punctual and responsible.” Yeah right.

Some married men actually like to book dates with women and not show up on purpose. That way it’s an ego boost but they feel that their conscience is clean because “technically it wasn’t cheating if a date didn’t take place.” Nobody likes to get stood up, so don’t do unto others what you dread being done to you.

Once a friend of mine was all set to go on a date with this guy and he didn’t show up. When she confronted him, he said that he’d made other plans and had posted an announcement on his Facebook status. He assumed that she should’ve checked his Facebook and figured it out.

It was not her job figure it out. It was his job to tell her DIRECTLY. Unless it’s a obituary note posted by a family member, she should not have to find out why he didn’t show up from a public Facebook status update.

6.   Don’t be late. Same reason as above.

(continued in my next post...)