Meeting: Sorry ladies but the first time you meet a guy at a bar does not equal an actual date. For some this can be confusing. Along these lines this means that on the third meeting you can’t say that you’ve been on three dates and can therefore sleep with him without being considered a whore. Running into someone at random, or even meeting up with someone intentionally with your friends out and about is not a date!
Talking/Hanging Out: The reason why there are two terms for this is because if for whatever reason you are “involved” with someone who lives far away or travels on a regular basis, talking is the equivalent of group dating, aka hanging out. Again, sorry to disappoint, but these are not dates even if at the end of the evening you end up going home together. If you are talking to someone regularly on the phone, don’t start the registry at Tiffany’s; you are in fact just talking.
Dating: This is the stage when an actual date occurs. Although this might seem like an absurdly easy concept but you would be amazed at how many people jump the gun with this classification. A date consists of one on one. Now don’t get upset, he doesn’t have to pick you up at your house and bring a flower. You don’t have to make him sit idly in your living room for 15 minutes while you pretend to finish up getting ready. Even getting together for a drink or dinner after work will suffice. Probably one of the greatest plans verbalized was in “Sleepless in Seattle” when Tom Hanks is discussing a date with his son. Just go out for drink because if after that initial drink you’ve realized that there is no chemistry you can always say you have to go, enter excuse here. While on the other hand if the drink portion of the evening is going well, then you can always continue on into a dinner arrangement.
Relationship: This happens when you and the other member choose, either by verbalizing it or be an unspoken understanding, that you won’t be dating or sleeping with anyone else. Getting to this stage in my opinion is HUGE and I am amazed at how quickly certain people jump right into it without any hesitation. Is this a problem; no of course not. I’m just of the school that you lead with your head instead of your heart. You don’t get the floaty flying feeling as often but at the same time you don’t suffer the ‘thud” when after a week of “happily ever after” the evil queen of reality gives you that tasty apple. And when you hold off, don’t worry you still get the butterflies and excitement, but at the same time you get to actually enjoy them because you’ve let them become activated once you have a decent amount of assurance that this boy is worth the attention and excitement.