DATING what does that mean? Well there is a definition for that: “Of a couple, to be in the early stages of a relationship where they go out on dates to find out what each other is like, as a prelude to actually being a fully-fledged couple” (Urban Dictionary.com, 2015). That definition was hard to come by since the proper definition for the verb has to do with determining a time frame in-which an event happened, but it is the proper description of the topic I want to discuss.

I have notice a major shift in what it means for two people to be dating. I have many single and married friends and I’ve been on the dating seen, so I speak from experience and research I’ve done within my own circles, as well as news reports and the push for a re-defining of the age old human interaction. I bring this subject to the post because I’ve been curious as to what’s going on in the scene of dating, and how the new tools are being used to find a friend or as we use to say “boyfriend or girlfriend”, are changing the landscape for better, or worse.

Sites such as Christian Mingle and Match.com, as well as a few others promise to find you the love of your life, by matching your points of interest and other compatibility attributes with members on the site. I don’t know how successful these sites are (overall) at finding their members Mr. or Mrs. rite, but the friends that I know who’s used them have gotten dates but none of them lasted or lead to the marital bliss promised by the dating sites.

In my 40 years on this earth, I must say I’ve been on my fair share of dates. I’ve been taught what it means to court someone, what dating is, but what I’m encountering today, is something very different. It appears that TV show writers and producers have decided that, tradition and decency are an old concept, and that the best way to get to know a person you’re dating is to sleep with them right away, and figure out who they are later.

The purpose of taking your time to get to know someone was to find out if they were a crazy or deranged person, if they would make a good father or mother to a child, or partner. These things are still pretty important to know when meeting someone for the first time -and jumping in the sack, bathroom stall at the bar, or club, just doesn’t get you the proper result, because if you find yourself sprung on his or her sex, but the rest of the package is horrible, you could be heading for an emotional or potentially physically abusive mess.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dating