Sound It Out Now- D-Da-Daaaaaaate.

Remember dating? Yeah, me neither.

Now, as a girl who doesn't really like going to restaurants and can't sit still for the life of me in a movie theater, I'm not crushed that the whole "dinner and a movie" thing isn't standard protocol anymore. However, I do miss the whole concept of being taken out somewhere by someone you just met, resulting in a few hours of nervous conversation and flirtatious looks and shaky, clammy hand holding. It's nice to realize you like someone and not kiss and rub all up on each other right away. It's nice to feel that the object of your affection is actually working towards impressing you and proving that they're a nice guy/girl. I don't want to say this proves that a person is respectful, because I know plenty of great guys who turned into great boyfriends even though they didn't do the whole date thing right away. Maybe what I miss most about literally going out to a physical date-like location with someone is the fact that it helps put a label of sorts on "what you are".

I've had this talk with a friend of mine numerous times; the difference between hooking up, dating/seeing someone, and being boyfriend/girlfriend or boyfriend/boyfriend or girlfriend/girlfriend (I guess the easiest way to categorize that last one would just be to say "relationship". Ooooh, scary word).

Here's my personal description of each different phase of, let's say, togetherness:

Hooking up is pretty self explanatory. You meet someone and there's an attraction there so you guys make out and touch each others' naughty bits and have sex and all that kind of stuff. Sometimes that's the only thing you do when you see each other, and sometimes you can actually build a friendship too where the two of you hang out and have sleepovers and meet each others' friends and all that stuff. However, since the actual act of going on dates has disappeared into the dark abyss that I can only assume Pluto went on permanent vacation to when they kicked it out of the solar system, when you're just hooking up with someone it is hard to tell if it can actually result in an eventual relationship or not. Because what if the other person just wants to hook up and nothing else? When one of their friends asks you if you and his buddy are dating and you say "No, we're just hooking up", does that mean there is no chance of you two ever changing the dreaded relationship status on Facebook? (Which is a curse, by the way. The second you change it to "In A Relationship With.." and have your friends start friending your significant other, you might as well kiss the whole thing goodbye). Also, if you're just hooking up with someone, it most likely is no strings attached so you both can be hooking up with other people at the same time. Usually this isn't a big deal but we all know that girls are crazy and and hypocritical so even though we may be kissing someone on the side, if we find out you are too, well...we're gonna cry. Cause we're nuts.

I guess dating/seeing each other is kinda just a hop, skip, and a jump away from hooking up. Once you're dating it doesn't mean you're in an exclusive relationship. But it sure as hell means that the chance for one is that much stronger. Just like hooking up, you can date multiple people at one time, unless you make it an exclusive dating type deal. In that case, you're both just basically scared of putting the boyfriend/girlfriend title on it which is understandable. That shit is stressful. But if you're dating and someone's birthday rolls around or Christmas pops up on you like an obnoxiously cheery yuletide bandit, you better get each other a gift. Even if it's just taking the other person out for drinks and sliding a card across the table, it has to be recognized somehow.

This brings us to the big guns, the playoffs, the how-the-hell-did-I-get-myself-roped-into-this-one. The Relationship. Bah Bah Baaaaaaah. (I hope those bah's sounded to you guys the same way they did in my head. You know, less-sheeplike and more dooming). Sure, being in a relationship is great and realizing that the person you love is also your best friend is great and being able to walk around saying "I'm just so glad I'm out of the dating scene and found me a real man" is great as long as you're not saying it to a single gal cause we WILL hit you in the back of the knees with a 2x4. But it's also scary. You're in a committed relationship. You're locked in. You're either going to get married or suffer months of depression and self-deprecation after you guys break up because one of you fucked up. And as a girl, it's tough because we often feel that you're just being our boyfriend because we want you to be. It's that whole stereotype of guys being commitment-phobes and never really wanting to be serious. Or there are the guys that are so sickly sweet and in loooooove with you that you just want to punch them in the face and tell them to grow some balls and take their pants off cause momma's feeling frisky.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is this: In getting back to my initial point of "the date" being roadkill, I think that it should pry itself off the asphalt and make a comeback. Dates make people feel special. They're also fun, let's not forget that. And if they're not fun, they make great stories to tell your friends when you're all sitting around drunk and eternally single. Plus, dates force you to actually talk to each other which is the only way you're going to be able to tell if you're better off just as friends or if you should go back to being complete strangers. But speaking from a technical view, dates also help you realize if you're just a booty call, or a potential for something more. You know, like a future baby momma. Cause I don't know about you guys, but I have Maury on speed dial. It's a little something I like to call planning for the future.