Pre Date Background Check

Lawd knows I have told you some gruesome stories about guys not being who they say they is...I gave my friend C. a lesson on using one of the finest sites in all the land: myfloridacounty.com. She is getting ready to have a first date with a guy after emailing and texting through match.com. He has a few questionable things in his past: looks like he was arrested in connection with Publix (probably did not pay the fees for writing a check that bounced) and a DUI when he was 22. C says he seems intelligent in written word, has a good job and is polite. She is really struggling with this--does she write off the guy as a loser or give him a chance since these things happened years ago? Here are the observations that have come up between C, me and some friends (one friend is a cop, another accountant, and the third an attorney).

• He was young. We all do dumb things when we are young...
• But a DUI?
• He got arrested for the Publix deal. How bad was it? It looked like one check for $76.  Publix doesn't mess around with people that do not pay the fees.
• But still, getting arrested? Why not pay the fees or get someone to help you?

This whole thing brings forward a bigger question--how quick are we to judge? I will tell you 3 stories about the past of a successful friends of mine:

• She got so fed up with school and her home life that she left 12th grade early and moved out with a boyfriend. She got a GED and ended up going to cosmetology school. She was an apprentice in a hair salon and immediately knew she hated it. She started to wait tables to save for school. It took her a while, but she ended up going back to school and eventually got a bachelors degree.
• Another one was so poor when she was 19 that her only meal would be at the Bennigan's where she waited tables at night. For a $1.50/day she could eat soup and muffins. She would take her tips and drive through the bank in the morning to cover the checks she had written the day before to pay the bills on time. One morning the bank called her to question the activity on her account. It was a vicious cycle. She ended up getting her Bachelors when she was 42.
• The third one made such bad grades in high school that the guidance counselor suggested she learn a "trade" such as being a scrub tech in the operating room. The counselor didn't didn't get that she was miserable at home and school bored her. She ended up becoming a nurse and never worked in the OR.

All three now own a house, own their car, have a decent retirement account, good credit and they are nice people. Oh yeah...those 3 bullet points all describe me at different times in my life. On the front end I had a GED, a cosmetology license and I waited tables. One could call me a loser. Now, I am a registered nurse, I have my bachelors in business with a focus on healthcare and a great job.  I am considered successful.

Conversely, Special Ops Boy:

• Looks great on paper. An officer in the Navy. Clean cut (aren't they all), divorced, no kids, grew up on a farm in PA, hardworking, spoke about how important values are and a bit boring. He would appear to be a "catch."
• In reality--A liar, remarried, has a baby, doesn't seem to work that hard, has no moral compass and is still boring. Not a "catch".

So, what does C do? Does she cancel the date due to this guy's past or give it a try?