Friends VS Dating

I had an interesting conversation with a man from POF last night. He seems to be an intelligent man, witty, nice, fun, talkative; yes there are things wrong with him ladies, I have never talked over the phone with him and I have never seen a picture. But, HEY, things could be worse, right? HE COULD be married...LOL. Anyway, so we are talking about relationships and a little about sex (not enough to get my panties in a bunch, but enough to make it a little interesting). He states to me that he likes to take things slow, finally a man that does not want to jump into the sack with me five minutes after we meet. He says that he would like to take it slow and be friends for 5-6 months. I at this point have a few red flags popping up, but I continue to talk. Remember it took Prince Charming 1,000 years to cut through the forest and wake Sleeping Beauty...so I do know that these men take a little longer than the average NORMAL woman. I continue to listen, until he says the one crucial piece, "So we can take it slow and be friends for 5-6 months, is that good?" I Say, "yeah, that is no problem to me, I think that is sweet". Now here is the interesting part, he says, "So are you going to be talking to any other guys during that time?"

SCREEEEEEECCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Wait a second, if I remember correctly when two people are friends does it mean that the rules of relationship apply?

Dating:
Dating constitutes going out together to the movies, to dinner, maybe over each others house for a drink or some romping under the sheets. During this time, the two people in question are probably seeing other people. To think that you are exclusive and that no one else is getting their dipstick dipped into her on a Saturday night, is asinine.

Friends:
NOW, when two people are friends seeing IF they may possibly want to date, there are a few things that are different. Neither party will be going out with each other on a regular basis...maybe dinner is only a few times a month vs the dating scenario that may be a few times a week. Phone calls are a lot less during the week, BOTH parties can talk openly about the other people that they are screwing, and that romping in the sheets with KY's best new brand of Lube, NOT HAPPENING.

Relationship:
Now contrary to my ex-boyfriend's belief; when one is in a relationship with another person there are a few EXACT rules that apply. A relationship means that the two people in question have decided that they do not want to have anyone else involved in their lives. They have decided that they would like to keep all others out of their bedroom and telephones...this is when you decided that a Saturday night will almost indefinitely be with the other person. AND, this is where the seeing or talking to other people STOPS!!

So, there are two things that are a common theme with dating and friends...IN BOTH of them, the thought that each party is NOT seeing or talking to others is ludicrous!

So, I ask of all single men and women out there. Why the friends word? WHY not dating? What is so scary about the word dating, that we avoid it at every cost? Why is it we would rather pretend that we are doing something else so that we can sleep better at night? Have we all become non-committal people that we can not even label what we are doing with the correct piece of grammar? I mean, most people cannot even buy a car, they lease, cause then if they get tired of it they are not stuck, and if they really like it then they can buy it in a few years. WOW.....



By the time you swear you're his,
Shivering and sighing,
And he vows his passion is infinite, undying -
Lady, make note of this: One of you is lying.

-- Dorothy Park