We are all well aware of the dangerous situation going on in Mexico with the out-of-control violence between drug cartels and the cops, but there is more at stake than everyone’s lives. (And fashion.) There is also the matter of the average Mexican safely being able to get laid.

“You have to be more careful with everything these days,” said José Carlos Vizcarra, who heads an advisory group on crime in the border town of Mexicali. “If you go into a bar and there’s a beautiful girl standing alone, you have to think twice about going up to her. Who knows if she’s a drug dealer’s girlfriend? If he walks in when you’re buying her a beer that could be the end of you.”

And definitely the end of your boner. Plus, even women who are not currently involved with drogeros are a risk.

The father of another kidnapping victim said courting had substantially changed these days. One of the man’s two sons had broken up with his girlfriend. Another boy, with ties to traffickers, started dating her. One day last year, men dressed in black arrived at the man’s house and took one of his sons away, grabbing the wrong son by mistake. He has not been heard from ever since.

And men aren’t the only ones having to adjust their expectations. For women, the drug wars mean suffering fools gladly.

Women should be careful how they shun a man’s unwelcome attention. Who knows what offense he might take and what weapons he might be packing.

Obviously not any that are going to leave a girl satisfied. Sigh. Will no one save us?

Drug Violence Alters the Flow of Life in Mexico [New York Times]