The (New and Improved) Loving Dominant by John Warren, Libby Warren Page B

conscience will just nod or might suggest that the two of you set an alarm clock so you won’t miss the call. A big, flashing red light would be raising a fuss or even refusing to go through with the meeting.
    An extreme example of a safe call working, although not exactly as the individuals intended, was the case of a Texas psychologist, who wanted to meet with a guy she’d met online. She called a man, Travis, who is as well known for his proficiency with a singletail as for his skill in handling social issues, and she asked him to be her safe call. The man she was expecting to meet was John Edward Robinson Sr., who used the screen name of “Slavemaster.” When he heard about the safe call, Robinson became outraged and beat the woman before releasing her. She contacted Travis. They contacted the police in Kansas where Robinson lived. The investigation that ensued eventually uncovered dead, tortured bodies in oil drums on his property. He was later convicted in 2003 of multiple murders.
    Fortunately, the number of “Slavemasters” in this world is incredibly small. By and far, almost all of the meetings I know of which that have gone bad happened because of ignorance or over expectations on the part of the individuals involved. However, there are some bad people out there, and a safe call is one reasonable precaution to take for an initial and maybe the next few meetings.
    At the very least, leave information about the person you are meeting somewhere. That can be as dramatic as giving a friend a sealed envelope with the request “If you don’t hear from me by Thursday, open this” or as simple as leaving the same information on your refrigerator door or on your bed.
    I strongly recommend that you don’t meet with the intention of having a scene. The first meeting is a time to exchange a lot of information, and it is hard to keep someone’s attention when she or he is worrying or looking forward to what will be happening in the next few minutes. It also gives you a chance to digest what you’ve learned after the intense emotional flux of the initial meeting has receded.
    Some people may read these suggestions, thinking, “This stuff is fine for submissives/ women, but I’m a dominant/guy. I don’t need this sort of stuff.” Maybe you don’t, but in this world, no one is completely safe. It’s important to know what’s available so you can model the situation such that you are comfortable and your safety needs are being met.
    Public clubs, organizations and events
    For the purposes of this book, I am using the word “club” in the sense of “nightclub,” a commercial establishment. We’ll get to member-run not-for-profit organizations in a few pages.
    Public clubs. To many who have not experienced them, public clubs sound like nirvana. Hundreds of leather-clad dominants and submissives mixing in an erotically charged atmosphere. Your perfect submissive could be waiting on bended knees for you to grasp the collar and drag him or her off to your lair. In real life, they are fun and exciting. However, as is so often the case, the reality is not quite the same as fantasy.
    There are two types of clubs: scene and non-scene. At a scene club, you can actually whip, spank, or otherwise play with your submissive. Non-scene clubs are places where you can show off your gear, talk to potential partners and relax with others in the scene, but no actual discipline can take place, at least overtly.
    As at most non-scene clubs, most of the activity consists of meeting and talking with other members of the scene. If two or more people hit it off, they go elsewhere for their more serious amusements.
    Both scene and non-scene clubs can be very exciting places to be. However, there are some problems that prevent them from being the answers to a dominant’s dream.
    Both attract throngs of tourists. Either because of a deep-seated fear or through simple bad manners, some of the tourists may behave rudely and