Other rules on dating

I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day. We were talking about dates and dating and I was reminded of some things I had come up with back in the day before we were married. Of course we all know the basics, date someone that you have things in common, someone you like, shares the same religion, yada, yada, yada. These are some fun extras. Some of these rules came from my own experiences and others came from friend's experiences. If anyone has other rules they would like to add, feel free to write them in the comments section.

1) Don't date a guy who does not have a car if you do have a car. (This used to be: don't date a guy who doesn't have a car, but I have amended it for people who live in NYC.) The dynamics are all off. I tried this once, don't recommend it.

2) Don't date a guy who when you cut your foot, his first reaction is to be more concerned about his parent's new carpet then the huge gash in your foot that is squirting blood.

3) Don't date a guy who is rude to service people. (For that matter, pick friends who are nice to service people.)

4) If you start having to do more and more editing in your head before bringing up topics, get out now.

5) Don't date someone who won't admit he is wrong, and don't be that person either.

6) If you have just worked a 13 hour shift, gone home, taken a shower, driven 2 hours with your boyfriend to go to lunch with HIS mother, she give you the silent treatment because you are 15 min late, and he grovels and apologizes to get his family to talk, while you are thinking about how you have been up for almost 20 hours, get out, get out, get out.

7) Don't date a guy who never wants to hold your hand or touch you in any way, and makes you feel ugly after hanging out with him. He really is gay. (I am not saying that a guy should be all over you, what I am saying is that you should get some sort of sense that he finds you attractive)

8) Date someone for a least 6 months before getting engaged. I don't care how long you have known him or how wonderfully you click. If it is meant to be, then you can date for at least 6 months.

9) Don't date a guy who is always talking about other beautiful women all the time.

10) Don't date a guy who is probably clinically depressed.

11) Never date a guy who lives with his parents, ever. (There is a difference between a guy living with his parents and his parents living with him for health reasons and such.)

12) Don't have a crazy long engagement. It's to stressful for everyone involved.

13) Do have pre-marital counseling and don't cheat on the questions.

14) Do date a guy who supports you and encourages you to pursue things you enjoy.

15) Do date a guy who brings over soup and medicine when you are sick and will sit on the couch with you all day because he knows you are bored.

16) Do date a guy who helps with the dishes.

17) Do date a guy who has the same financial goal as you.

18) Date a guy who your best gal pals really like and they aren't just saying that.

19) Date a guy that likes to interact with people.

20) Date a guy who does not have apron strings attached. (I find that dating a guy say about 7 years older then yourself helps in this matter. Although Mrs. Juicebox was able to work it out with a guy about 5 years older, but that may be a unique situation.)