a month or two ago, while at dinner, we had a lengthy discussion about the stages of dating…  after a few rounds of throwing ideas’s out, brian’s version made most of us laugh the most:
1. hanging out (nothing physical)
2. dating (which can mean multiple people)
3. seeing each other (exclusive)
4. a couple (”boyfriend/girlfriend”)
5. engaged
6. married

cecilia had a different perspective having grown up in sweden, and said after 2 or 3 dates you were either dating or you weren’t.  people didn’t “date” mutliple people.  in other words, it was simple: you were either dating or you weren’t.  i think i fall somewhere in the middle knowing that things aren’t always that defined because in the past i would tend to date a few people at the same time, yet after a month or two would decide on one of them if something more serious developed.

we searched wikipedia and found that “dating” can actually mean more than one person:

Dating is any social activity performed as a pair or even a group with the aim of each assessing the other’s suitability as their partner in a intimate relationship or as a spouse. The word refers to the act of agreeing on a time and “date” when a pair can meet and engage in some social activity… Typically a person may date many different partners during the same time period in order to have the best chance of finding their most suitable available mate.

this led into the topic of facebook and myspace making people choose their status.  are you “single” or “in a relationship”?  seems pretty straight forward right?  not in this day and age!  my favorite one is facebook’s option of ”it’s complicated”.  (which suited me well for the past year.) 

today msn had an article about how these online social sites can spark jealousy and stalking in relationships, Jealous much? MySpace, Facebook can spark it.  part of the article discussed ”a relationship status that didn’t reflect the couple’s exclusivity”.  this was my big issue, after “dating” for a year and a half doesn’t that constitute “in a relationship”?!  yes, but not to guys… that would put a damper on the illusion to others that they are bachelors for life (or didn’t want to admit that they are dating you?!?). :)  very annoying, but that just proves that i need to find somebody who in the long run will be proud to admit they are “in a relationship” with me.  haha