The best thing about bad dates is that we walk away with a great story, and little doubt that the perpetrator is not the person for us.

I was thinking about some of the common errors made on first dates. I came up with 10 common mistakes that could kill the chances for a second date:

Arriving late

Even five minutes of lateness is inexcusable on the first date. People are already anxious on these excursions, so making someone wait and think more about everything is pretty rude. Seems like the trend in NYC is to be late for things regularly. On one date, I texted the girl and told her I was running late. She said she was too. We ended up just having the date 1/2 hour later than planned and technically no one was late because we were both 1/2 hour late together.

Wardrobe malfunction

Make sure you cater what you wear to what you're doing. I try not to make a girl walk too much if she's in heels. Also, I've seen girls wear pearls and a nice blouse to trashy outdoor drinking events, or heels to sporting events.

Talking politics or religion

Staying away from debatable content is a good idea the first time out. It's fun to argue with your significant other, but I think it's important to reach a comfort level first. If you try to proselytize someone, or battle them over a hot topic like abortion, you may reach a point of no return.

Checking out other people

You'd think that no one would do this, but guys are always looking at waitresses, or other patrons when out. One of my friends got in hot water because his date told me he made cat calls at other girls while on a date. Talk about a mistake!

Bringing friends (Non group date)

If you bring friends along you look immature and insecure. You also throw the other person for a loop if they were expecting the date to be one-on-one. Make sure you establish that it is a one-on-one date, and follow the rules and show up alone.

Getting too drunk

Some people turn into a completely different person when they are drunk. Let the other person learn about you while you're sober, before you get wasted with them. Alcohol should be introduced into the relationship slowly, but if a drink or two takes the edge off, and wine adds romance it's fine. Just don't push it too far.

Being too aggressive

No one wants to deal with someone's wandering hands before they are ready. It is one of the best ways to creep someone out. Just because someone is getting dinner with someone once doesn't mean it's an invitation into the sack. It's best to be hands off on the first date.

Being too unaggressive

My friend Margaret warns me to be more aggressive all the time. She said that if I don't kiss someone at the end of a date, or make a move when they hop in my bed they will begin to think something's wrong with them, or that I'm not into them. Maybe that's true, but sometimes I am just being too safe so that I don't break the rule I just mentioned above.

Canceling at the last minute or standing someone up

Canceling for a legitimate reason is fine, but respect your date's time so that they can plan their night without you. Canceling one hour before a date is not cool — most of the date prep has already started at this point. Standing someone up is so rude. What does it accomplish? If you change your mind, at least have the strength to just cancel. No need to make someone feel bad and waste their time just because you're too chicken to cancel the date.

Dominant speaker

Try to breathe in between sentences, and don't talk too much. Give your date a chance to talk. Aren't you trying to get to know one another? And don't speak for that other person (i.e. order for them at dinner) unless they invite you to help with their order.

Do you agree or disagree with any of these? Ever have these happen to you, or have you ever made these mistakes? Would you go on a second date after any of these mistakes? What would you add to this list?

The following story took place long ago in Israel. One day when government officials were rebuilding a barn, they found a mouse hole in a corner and used smoke to force the mice inside the hole to come out. A while later they indeed saw mice running out, one after another.

Then, everyone thought that all the mice had escaped. But just as they just about to start to clean up, they saw two mice squeezing out at the exit of the hole. After some endeavor, the mice finally got out. The strange thing was that after they came out of the hole, they did not run away immediately. Instead, one chased after the other near the exit of the hole. It seemed that one was trying to bite the tail of the other.

Everyone was puzzled, so they stepped closer to take a look. They realized that one of the mice was blind and could not see anything, and the other one was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite on his tail so he could pull the blind one with him to escape.

After witnessing what happened, everyone was speechless and lost in thought. During meal time, the group of people sat down in a circle and started to chat about what happened to the two mice.

One serious Rome official said: “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of emperor and minister.” The others thought for a while and said: “That was why!” Thus the Rome official showed his arrogance superciliously.

A smart Israeli said: “I think the relationship between those two mice was husband and wife.” Again the others thought for a while, and all felt it made sense; so they expressed assent. Therefore, the Israeli’s countenance showed self-satisfaction.

A Chinese, who was accustomed to the firm tradition of loyalty to parents, said: “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of mother and son.” Once again the others thought for a while, and felt this was more reasonable. So they expressed assent yet another time. Therefore, the face of the Chinese conveyed professional humility.

At that moment, one pure-minded Samaritan who was squatted on the ground resting his chin in his palms, bewilderedly looked at other people, and asked: “Why did those two mice have to have a certain relationship?”

Suddenly, the atmosphere froze. Stupefied, the group looked back at the Samaritan and remained speechless. The Rome official, the Israeli and the Chinese who had spoken earlier all lowered their heads in shame, and did not dare to respond.

In fact, the true love is not established on benefit, friendship and loyalty or blood relationship. Instead, it is based on no relationship.

Bush, Arnie top English gobbledegook poll

Tall people lead happier lives than their more vertically challenged peers, according to a new study which found that most miserable men are almost an inch shorter than average.

Researchers found that shorter people tended to be more dissatisfied with their lot in life.

The study interviewed more than 450,000 adults about how they viewed their life.

The volunteers were asked to place themselves somewhere on a “life ladder” and asked about their emotions.

According to the findings, people who were taller were also more likely to be positive about their life and were more likely to judge themselves as happy.

They were also less likely to feel a range of negative emotions, including sadness and physical pain, although they were more likely to experience stress and anger, and if they were women, to worry.

Men who reported that their lives were the "worst possible" were in general more than eight tenths of an inch, or two centimetres, shorter than the average height.

Women who viewed themselves as "on the bottom step" on the life ladder were shorter than the average woman by half an inch, or 1.3 centimetres.

There was also a link between height and education, the findings, published in the journal Economics and Human Biology, found.

Men who did not finish secondary school were found to be half an inch, or 1.27 centimetres, shorter than average and more than an inch, or 2.54 centimetres, shorter than the average height of those who had gone on to graduate from university.

However, there was no such clear link when it came to women, with just small differences in height.

The authors of the report, from Princeton University in New Jersey, conclude that the link between education, income and height mostly explained the link with happiness and life satisfaction.

The data was taken from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index daily poll of the American population.