It's still 7th grade...

In terms of dating, I don't think we really ever get past the 7th grade. Sometimes we even revert to 5th or 6th grade. We don't pass notes anymore. Instead we blog. Or email. Or IM. Or call each other on cell phones. Basically we're 7th graders with new technology.

And really, wouldn't be easier if we WERE back in, like, 3rd grade. Then you could pass a note and ask the fundamental question that all other questions can really be boiled down to. "Do you like me? Check yes or no." Because really, that's what we're wondering... at pretty much every stage.

You meet the guy at a bar, pass him the note. If yes, then you chat a little. Pass him the note again. If still yes, you exchange digits. He calls (this is impliedly a 3rd 'yes'), and you go out. Progressive dates take the place of note passing, for a time - him calling for another date implies a 'yes'.

Then at some point, you've become a couple. There are no more "dates" to take the place of passing the note. It becomes familiar and you wonder, "Does he still like me?" maybe the question includes the phrase "now that he knows X about me?" Or maybe the phrase "as much as I like him?" You pay painstaking attention to the little things he does in order to try to infer the answer to that question -- he introduced me to his best friend - yes; he offered to cook dinner for me - yes; he spent the entire weekend with me and THEN asked me to have dinner with him Sunday night too - yes, yes; he's going to happy hour with friends and didn't invite me - no?

And so it goes. As the relationship progresses, you could just change the note to "Do you STILL like me?" or later to "How much do you like me? On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being 'I'm planning to break up with you' and 10 being 'You're the person I'm going to marry... soon'"

Women realize they can't "pass the note" too often. You can't ask a guy "Do you like me?" (or some other form of that) every other day without being a freak, so instead we gossip with our girlfriends. We tell them absolutely everything you did; what you said; the tone you used; the expression on your face... and we rely on our girfriends to interpret your actions as either a "yes" or a "no". Sometimes we flat out ask, "What do you think that means?" (translation: "Does he like me?") and other times our girlfriends are on cue even without our prompting, "Oh my God, he is soooo into you!"

We're soooo still in 7th grade...