the great date debate...

My friend Anand is in town and last night he made dinner for his friend Sam and me - an authentic Indian dish. It was the first time (and maybe the last time?) I ever ate with my hands and didn't get scolded by my parents like I did when I was little. I had forgotten that they eat with their hands in India. Now, I am sure that flashbacks to the scene in the movie Along Came Polly, where Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston go out for Indian food and Ben's character starts sweating and having stomach issues are thundering through your head now, right? It wasn't like that at all. It was very good food and fun to eat too, if not a little messy!

The three of us got into a debate about the definition of dating. Sam and I agreed that if you go on one date (spending time together understanding that there's a mutual interest in getting to know each other beyond friendship) then you're dating. When you become exclusive with that person, you're boyfriend/girlfriend. You could be dating a few different people at one time until you and one of your "dates" has decided you'd like to be exclusive and not date anyone else. Anand disagreed with this and said that one date seems a little early to say that you're dating someone. I argued, "If you jump, what are you doing? You're jumping. If you go out on a date, what are you doing? You're dating." It's pure logic. Now, I agree that one date would be too early to call that person my boyfriend, but I did go out on a date with that person so I am technically dating him until one or both of us decides that it wouldn't work out between us. Also, there's a big difference between dating and "hanging out" with a friend of the opposite sex. There's a certain tension on a date that is not present when you're just hanging out, even if you have hung out with that person before. There's an entirely different feel, a very different mood to it, a mood that's thick with expectations and unknowing.

At the end of the night, Sam and I decided that we are now dating (not really but it got Anand worked up because he'd been feeling left out all night with Sam and I agreeing on everything). And then I played my first game of PIG with them on the basketball court in the backyard. I lost. Of course.

So I ask you, my imaginary internet friends... What do YOU think? Any thoughts on the matter?