It’s been said that love is blind. It may also be deaf and dumb, but today I’ll deal with the onset of blindness that occurs at the beginning of a relationship. When you first meet someone you’re attracted to, your eyesight isn’t 20/20; you don’t/don’t want to see the person for who they really are. Just as the United States currently has a color-coded terror alert, there is also a personal alert system that goes beyond the well-known "red flags." I believe there are smaller warning signs of trouble up ahead. I call these yellow and orange flags.

Blasts the stereo when you are in the car with him/her. Guys are usually more guilty of this than girls since our ego isn’t tied to our stereo. If the guy is under 21, OK, he’s immature. If he’s between 21 and 30 and the music is so loud you can hardly carry on a conversation, there’s probably a maturity issue here. If he’s over 30, it becomes an orange flag.

Breast implants. I know there’s going to be a lot of controversy over this since we live in silicone valley (figuratively), but unless the implants were for work-related reasons (actress, bikini model, stripper, etc.), or because the breasts were disfigured (pregnancy, breast feeding, medical reasons), I believe this is a yellow flag.

Unfortunately, our society has given women the message that they are "less than" if they are anything "less than" a C cup. That is still not an excuse for falling into this trap. You can’t find your self-esteem in your cleavage. My motto is: The bigger the implant, the lower the self-esteem. If you meet someone with a DD cup and she’s not in the above professions, it becomes an orange flag.

How do they hug? I once dated someone that stood there like a robot whenever I hugged him hello or goodbye, another guy only hugged with one arm. Talk about non-commital – both guys are no longer in my life. If a guy can’t or won’t hug "properly," he’s got issues. It’s a yellow flag.

Sticks to you like glue. Ladies, have you ever dated someone who would hold your hand the entire time (and I do mean, the entire time) you were at a nightclub together? I bet they also accompanied you to the bathroom and waited outside for you. How did it turn out? Exactly.

This is not normal male behavior. The guy that did this with me is a big time player (of course, I didn’t know it at the time). He wanted to show me off and make sure everyone knew I was with him so that no one would try to approach me. The other explanation for this is that the guy is from another country. In that case, it would be a yellow flag. Otherwise, it’s orange. Proceed with caution.

Points out attractive women/men. There are several reasons for this. The person is insecure about your feelings for them so they want to make you jealous and see your reaction – yellow flag. The person was raised by wolves and doesn’t know about acceptable social behavior – orange flag. The person is upset with you about something and is using this as a way to get back at you – orange flag.

Keep this in mind: Two yellow flags = one orange flag. Two orange flags = one red flag. Class dismissed.

REMEMBER: Love inspires, empowers, uplifts and enlightens.

Write to Lucia at: theartoflove777@yahoo.com

For more info: The Art of Love